Arthur
by fictionalforever
Summary: "It will be soon." Merlin's been saying it for years but this time he's right. At last the great plot which the gods formed at the beginning of time is starting to unfold.
1. Chapter 1

(AN: This story is a bit slow and boring at first, but I promise that if you stick with it it gets better. Hope you enjoy!)

In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rested on the shoulders of a young man. His name, Merlin. Merlin was many things. He was kind, relentless, and loyal; he was also the most powerful and bravest man to ever live. He still is, I believe. But he is old now. It is has been years, ages, since the death of the Once and Future King, but even so, he still misses his friend. But it won't be much longer now, that's what he says. He's been preparing my whole life for King Arthur's rising, but I still feel there is so much to be done. I don't think I'm ready. I'm only eighteen, after all, but he assures me that I will be ready when Arthur Pendragon needs me.

He says it will be soon. I'm scared. It is said that the Once and Future King will come again when Albion needs him most. While he has slept beneath the waters of Avalon, so many terrors have occurred. I dread to think of what could be so terrible to wake the Once and Future King.

Merlin is old now. As powerful as he is, I fear that he has lost much of his strength, I fear that when the King walks on land once more, Merlin will not be able to serve him so well. But that is where I come in, it's what I've been preparing for my entire life. I don't want this burden, I don't know how to carry it. I hope I am wrong about Merlin, I hope he will have the strength to serve the King. I pray I am wrong.

"Lila, what are you doing?" I open my eyes. I am in the basement, kneeling in the front left corner, where the shrine is. "I am praying." I hear his footsteps and his cane walking toward me. "What are you praying, Lila?" I stand and turn to face him. He is short, pale, and wrinkled. His white hair and beard reach down to his elbows. He wears black trousers and a white tshirt and carries with him an old wooden cane, it is also a magic staff carved from ancient trees and embedded with magic crystals. His eyes are old and filled with images of joy and anger and sadness, they are filled with wisdom and grief and hope.

"You, and the King, and the days which are ahead of us. I will not lie to you, I'm scared." He looks around the basement. It's damp down here and the lighting is bad. The carpet is moldy and rust runs down the grey walls. Everywhere there are cardboard boxes and large wooden trunks filled with books, herbs, and magical instruments. He looks back at me. "You should not fear, Lila. The days ahead will be difficult, but we should not fear the future." He stops talking, leans on his staff, and coughs for a few seconds.

"The time is here. I must go, Lila. You will wait here and prepare anything we need for Arthur. When I return, I will have him." I step forward as he turns to leave. "Take me with you. I can help." He leans on his staff again. "I know, Lila, but I believe it would be better for me to do this alone. Arthur Pendragon is in for quite a shock."

He walks up the old creaky staircase and I follow him. The blood in my ears rushes and my heart beats fast. _It's really happening. The time has come._


	2. Chapter 2

In early summer, an old man walked down the side of a highway. To his left there was a lake. As a truck passed him by, he stopped and looked at the lake. He kept walking. Eventually he came upon a small break in the barrier along the hill, which then dropped down to the lake shore. He stepped past the barrier and began his descent to the lake shore. He was old and it took him a long time, but he did reach the shore. On his back, he carried a sack, which he laid down on the grass. He gathered dry wood and muttered some strange words. A flame grew from the pile of wood. The old man then sat down on the grass and looked out at the lake. The waters were calm. For centuries the lake had remained undisturbed, for at the bottom of the lake rested a great and mighty king, waiting for the time when Albion would need him once more. The old man stayed there, undisturbed for two days and nights, watching the lake and falling asleep every so often. When he slept he had dreams, dreams of a storm when the half-moon rises and at last something stirring in Avalon's waters. On the third night, the old man woke to the sound of thunder, thunder louder and mightier than any lightning bolt had ever made. Again thunder sounded, shaking the earth and causing the winds to flee away from it. The old man stood and watched as a third lightning bolt reached out from the sky, but this lightning bolt hit the water. The lake of Avalon shook with vigorous strength and the waters began to turn around the place where lightning had hit. The old man watched with a smile as someone awoke in the water. He felt the strength of a thousand men and resisted the pull of the water. But the sword in his hand was even stronger than the man and pulled him to the surface of the water. It forced him to walk on the water toward the shore. He at last stopped resisting and allowed the sword to lead him away from the lake. As his feet touched the wet sand, the thunder and swirling waters stopped. Instantly there was silence over everything and the man and the old man stood, staring at each other. At last the old man smiled and began to laugh. The man suddenly felt exhaustion and collapsed on the ground. _Silence._


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur Pendragon was troubled in his dreams. Images of a terrible battle raced through his mind, he remembered the telling of a secret, and the moment where all hope was lost. He woke up, shaking. He was in a strange place. He was in a white washed room, in a soft white and black bed, directly in front of the bed was a framed picture, which was entirely black, it stood on a wooden set of drawers, little balls of light stuck to the ceiling, and everything was just very unusual. Arthur sat up and received an immediate headache. He let his head fall back on the soft pillows. He heard the sound of running water nearby. He turned his head towards a white door as it opened and someone stepped into the room. He was an old man, with a very familiar face. The two of them stared at each other for a while, studying each other. Arthur Pendragon struggled to say something; at last the name escaped him with a strained voice, "M-merlin?" Merlin smiled, he leaned on his staff. "Hello, my friend." Arthur stared at him, astonished. He remembered rising from the lake and seeing him there. He had so many questions. "W-where are we?" Merlin's smile faded, "It is a long story. There is much to say. I feel it would be better to answer your questions when we get to the Cave." "Cave, what cave? Ow!" Arthur's head throbbed and his vision blurred. Merlin touched his forehead and muttered some words. The pain in Arthur's head subsided. "You should rest, you are still weak. It will take some time before you are ready to travel." "But, Merlin, there's still so much I don't_" Merlin touched his lips with his fingers and shushed Arthur. "All in due time. Rest now." Arthur felt a severe drowsiness fall upon him, he tried to resist the call of sleep, but his body would not obey. Merlin sat by his side until his breathing grew steady. He stood up and found his sack. He left the hotel room and walked down the blue hallway to the elevator. Halfway down, he muttered some ancient words and the elevator stopped. He looked through his sack and found some packaged ingredients, a small pot, and a large leather book. He sat on the floor and placed these things around him. He turned through the book until he found the right pages. He then began the spell as he placed the strange ingredients in the pot, one by one.


	4. Chapter 4

Merlin returned to the hotel room early morning. Arthur still slept in the bed, snoring loudly.

Merlin opened the closet to put his sack away, he paused. On the inside of the closet door, there was a mirror. Merlin looked at this mirror for a long time, he smiled and laughed. He put his things away and closed the closet. He thought about turning on the news, but decided against it. If Arthur were to wake, the television would surely scare him, not to mention the things he would see on the television. Merlin had the urge to open the curtains, turn to Arthur and say "rise and shine!" but he didn't. Arthur needed to rest.

Merlin looked around him and realized there was really nothing for him to do. Before that night he had been quite content with sitting around doing nothing. But the spell had changed him in more ways than one. He couldn't stand it, he wanted to take a walk, look around. He got up and went to get his sack. He closed the door gently and left a _Do not disturb _sign on the door. He took the stairs down and ran out the hotel lobby.

He ran through the streets looking at everything. Everything seemed different to Merlin. He stopped running to look through a shop window. He was in a city with grey stone sidewalks and narrow streets. Some of the stores were beginning to open. Merlin walked into the shop he had been looking at. The inside was painted pale yellow and had white wooden shelves packed with folded clothes all along the walls. On the left side of the room there was a white wooden counter with a cash-register and a few small baskets filled with cheap candies. A tall blond woman in a yellow polo shirt smiled at Merlin, "Hello, young man, anything I can help you with?" Merlin shook his head, "Just looking around, thanks." He looked around at the clothes. He felt uncomfortable in the clothes he was wearing; they were too big for him now. He picked some shirts and trousers and a red scarf from the shelves and took them to the cash register. He looked to his right and decided he wanted a new bag as well. He picked a black backpack hanging on a wall and took a few candies from the baskets. He left with all his new things in his backpack, except for his scarf which he tied around his neck.

He walked back to the hotel, every once in a while stopping to look at a shop window and sometimes going inside. Before he returned to the hotel he had bought the new clothes and backpack, two hoodies, two watches, three pair of shoes, a pack of cards, a scrabble game, and two bags of groceries. He took the elevator this time.

Arthur woke up around twelve noon. He opened his eyes and squinted from the bright lights sticking to the ceiling. He briefly wondered about them. _Probably magic. _He thought, remembering learning Merlin's secret. He sat up and looked around. He heard something coming from off the edge of the bed. He tried to crawl towards it and felt a deep ache in his sides and stomach. He took a few deep breathes, ignored the pain, and crawled to look over the side of the bed.

"Merlin!" Cards flew out of Merlin's hands as he jumped up from surprise. Arthur stared at him. "How do you do that? Are you a young man or an old one?" Merlin smiled, "At the moment I'm both." Arthur looked at him puzzled, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Merlin shook his head, "Doesn't matter. How are you?" "I-I'm fine. Merlin, what's going on? Last thing I remember_" His head started hurting again and he grunted in pain. Merlin rushed to his side, touched his head, and muttered a short spell. "Don't think too hard. Shouldn't be hard for you, right?" Merlin gave him a cocky grin. Arthur looked at him, slightly uncomfortable with his casual use of magic. "What happened, Merlin? At the lake? I thought - I thought I had died." Merlin stopped smiling. "Let's save the questions for another time. Are you hungry? I got some food." Arthur weekly nodded his head. He leaned against the headboard as Merlin looked through the paper grocery bags.

He handed Arthur a smooth yellow crescent plant. Arthur looked at it strangely. "It's called a banana." He walked to Arthur and took the banana from him. "You peel it like this and eat the inside. It's not so bad, try it." Merlin watched as Arthur bit into the banana and as he then proceeded to gag and spit a good deal of it out. Merlin sighed and got a napkin to clean it up. "So you're still a picky clot-pole." Arthur wiped his mouth, "And you're still trying to poison me." Merlin went back to the grocery bags and looked through them. He came back to Arthur holding a lump of bread with berries mixed in. "It's a muffin. You peel this off and eat it." He tried to hand it to Arthur. "With my hands?" Merlin rolled his eyes. He got a white fork out of the grocery bag and gave it to Arthur. "Most people do eat it with their hands, but I suppose you're too kingly to get your hands dirty, your highness." Arthur took the fork from Merlin and began to eat the muffin. It was good. "Where did you get all this food I've never heard of?" He asked with his mouth full. "Market. So, how bad does it hurt? Can you walk yet?" Arthur finished the muffin, still hungry. "I think I can walk. How'd you know about the pain? Is there any more food?" Merlin approached him with a box of mini powdered donuts, "It's kind of obvious. These are donuts. You're supposed to eat these with your hands as well, but you could always use a fork." Arthur took the box and began eating. He was so hungry, it seemed that the more he ate the more hungry he became. "What else is there?" He ate various new, strange foods before he was satisfied.

Merlin took away the trash. "Merlin, you keep avoiding my questions. Where are we? What happened at the lake? Where are we going?" "We are in what people call a hotel and we are going to a little house, which is sort of in the middle of nowhere, that we call the Cave. We should leave as soon as possible. I got you some clothes. Change quickly, I'll be back in half an hour." He threw some clothes at Arthur. Arthur scrambled to the foot of the bed, grunting from the pain. He called after him, "Merlin!" The door closed.

Arthur looked at the odd clothes Merlin had given him. He had some trouble getting into them and figuring out how everything was supposed to fit. It took even longer because of the pain all over his body. After half an hour, Merlin came back. Arthur looked at him angrily. "Where did you go?!" Merlin closed the door. "Calm down, I just had to do some stuff." He gathered various things from around the room and stuffed them in his new backpack.

"We have to go now. I wish I could give you more time to recover, but I can't. You'll have plenty of time when we get to the Cave." He looked back at Arthur. "Arthur, when we leave here, I need you to not freak out. A lot has changed since last you remember. No matter what you see you can't freak out. We have to move quickly. Promise me you won't freak out." "Merlin, tell me what's going on." "We don't have time-. You're just going to have to trust me." _Trust you? __**Trust you? **_Arthur thought. How could he trust Merlin? All those years he had lied to Arthur about his magic and used it behind his back. But he knew that Merlin had always been there for him and had only lied to him because he had to. He knew how hard Merlin tried to save him at Avalon, and how he must've succeeded and now they were going to some Cave for who-knows-what reason. He looked at Merlin, "Alright, I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh my GOD!" Merlin grabbed Arthur by his sleeve and pulled him to the left. He whispered to the shocked king, "You promised you wouldn't freak out!" Arthur looked behind his shoulder at the passing bus, "What was that thing?!" Merlin whispered, "Stop talking so loud, people are staring."

Arthur looked around the city streets, seeing cars, motorbikes, and people dressed even stranger than him. "What's going on? Merlin?" "Shut up. If you don't calm down we won't get a taxi." Arthur looked at Merlin as he stepped close to the street and tried to get a taxi to notice him. The taxi drove by. "One of the black and yellow ones. They take people places for money. Are you okay?" He looked back at Arthur who was breathing heavy and looked very pale. He went to Arthur and helped him to a bench.

"Just stay here and when I get a taxi, I'll get you." Arthur sat there, staring at everything. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Merlin came back, helped him up, and led him to the taxi. Arthur pulled away, "I'm not getting in that thing." Merlin sighed. "You have to, you're not well enough to walk to the station. Just get in, I promise it'll be alright." Arthur hesitated, "I think I'm going to regret this." He got in the taxi. Merlin went to the other side and got in. He talked to the driver as he helped Arthur buckle his seat belt. "Avalon Station."

The driver took off without warning. Arthur gripped the seat and held his breath. The taxi driver was wild, weaving in between traffic and receiving honks from other drivers. "Arthur, are you breathing?" Arthur looked at Merlin, "What do you think?!" They got to the train station in little time.

Merlin paid the driver while Arthur caught his breath. The train station was filled with strange things to see, but altogether was calmer for Arthur. Merlin grabbed his sleeve and walked him to a bench. "Stay here." Merlin walked away and Arthur looked around him. There were people everywhere; it made Arthur uncomfortable because none of them seemed to think anything was strange. Merlin came back holding two slips of paper. He gave one to Arthur, "This is your ticket. Do not lose your ticket; I don't think I have enough money to buy another." Arthur looked at it. "What's it for?" "The train. Now listen, I need you to promise again that you won't freak out." Merlin sat down and Arthur leaned toward him, "Don't freak out? Don't freak out?! Merlin, look around! How can I not freak out over this?! Where are we?! What's going on?! What are those things we saw back there?! How can I trust you when you never tell me anything?!"

Merlin whispered, "If you're going to talk so loud, don't call me Merlin. And I can't tell you here, it's not safe. Something's going to happen soon. I don't know what but I know it'll be bad. We have to get to safety before I start answering questions. Besides, every question I answer will give you a thousand more to ask. Just please wait until we get to the Cave?" Arthur made yet another promise he would not keep.

Arthur had two and a half hours to settle down and, by the end of the train ride; he had, for the most part, calmed down about the train. They left the station and took a taxi out of the city and into the middle of, well, nowhere.

They stood outside the Cave, which really wasn't a cave at all. It was a two story wooden house which was pretty run down and its rust red paint was peeling off. There were overrun bushes and trees in the yard and all around the house. Around the house and yard was an iron fence with vines growing all along it. Merlin walked up to the grey stone porch, took out a key, and opened the door. "You coming?" Arthur walked to the porch and went in the house after Merlin.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm in the dining room, finishing up the dusting. When I'm satisfied I walk to the next room and repeat the spell. The dust slowly begins to fade and at last disappears. I wonder where the dust goes when I do that. It probably just absorbs into some other kind of matter.

I'm now in Merlin's bedroom. It's a small, dark room with leafy green wallpaper. He has a wooden bed frame, a wooden desk, a lamp in between the desk and bed, and a small closet. It doesn't at all look like the room of the most powerful sorcerer to ever live, but nothing ever is the way you think it should be.

I go into the hallway and stare at my pictures hanging on the wall. I don't have many, just one or two a year, most of them are school pictures. They hang on the wall in a timeline, starting with a picture of toddler me on Santa's lap and ending with a picture of me and my ex-boyfriend in our graduation robes. That was only two weeks ago, it feels like a century. Wayne called me last night again, I can't tell him anything any way so I never answer his calls any more. I would miss him, but I'm too busy and worried to think about him too much.

I walk down the hallway to the living room. There are two guys standing in the middle of the living room. They both look at me. The gangly one with dark hair smiles at me and says, "Hi Lila!"

I react instantly. I reach behind me; grab the shotgun off the wall, lock, load, and point. "Who are you? How did you find this place? Stop smiling, idiot, I will shoot you."

The gangly guy holds out his hands to me, "No, Lila, it's okay. It's me, it's Merlin." Blond asks Gangly, "Who is this girl and what is that she's holding?" "Merlin? How do you know about him? Who are you?" "No, Lila, look, I mean really look. It's me, it's Merlin. Here," He took off a black backpack, reached inside, and took out Merlin's staff.

"That- that's Merlin's. Where is he? What have you done with him?" "No, Lila, look at me! It's me! Really it's me! My name is Merlin, yours is Lila, you've known me all your life, we live in this house in the middle of nowhere, we call this place the Cave because you say it's like our own secret lair, you know me as an old man with long white hair and a great big white beard and this staff, your favorite food is chocolate ice cream, you're eighteen years old, and we used to live in Edinburgh before you graduated a couple weeks ago. Lila, it's me, it's really me."

I look at him. "How- how did you-?" He turns around in a circle, "De-aging spell. What do you think?" I lower the shotgun, "You look … different." "Good-different or bad-different?" "Umm, good-different, I guess." I put the shotgun back on the wall and approach this new Merlin. I look into his eyes, they're the same eyes, but they look younger, less experienced, you can't tell he's wise or powerful, they look like anybody's eyes. It is him, he has the same features and smile, but he is so different.

Blond coughs a few times, hard. He keeps coughing until he has to lean on new-Merlin. "Lila, help me." I help Merlin drag Blond up the stairs while he coughs violently. When we reach the top, he crouches on the floor and starts coughing blood. "Oh my God!" I say. "Come on, get him to the room."

We get Blond back on his feet and drag him to the other side of the green hallway. Merlin opens the door with magic and we drag Blond to the bed.

It's the biggest of the four bedrooms in the Cave. The walls are painted white, there's a wooden ceiling fan hanging from the center of the ceiling, a white wooden wardrobe in the far right corner, and a set of drawers to the left of the king sized bed with a painted gold bedframe. We lay him down on the bed and I back up. Merlin touches Blond's forehead and yells to me, "Get a dry towel, a cold one, and a bowl!"

I run into the hallway and down the stairs to get the things he asked for. I come back with all these things; Merlin takes the bowl, and gives it to Blond just as he begins to vomit into it. When he has finished, Merlin wipes his mouth with the dry towel and tries to clean up the blood he coughed up on the bed. Blond coughs blood into the bowl and Merlin takes the cold wet towel and puts it on his forehead.

"You alright?" Merlin asks. Blond coughs into the bowl and gives a weak thumbs-down. Merlin puts his hand over the towel on Blond's forehead and mutters a healing spell. Blond stops coughing blood and instead grunts in pain. Merlin helps him lean back in the bed and takes a clean sheet from a pile at the foot of the bed to put over him. Blond rolls onto his side and coughs weakly.

I go up to Merlin and whisper, "Is this him? Is this King Arthur?" Merlin nods. "What's wrong with him?" I ask. "He's just been through a very traumatic experience and his body isn't used to the modern atmosphere. Give him some time, he'll get better."

I don't know what else to do so I clean the Cave. It really needs to be cleaned, we're probably the first people to touch it in years. We came here right after I graduated without telling anyone, everyone probably thinks we were kidnapped or something.I wonder if anyone misses me. I know Wayne does since he keeps calling and leaving me voice mails asking where I am and why I won't answer him.

I'm doing the dishes and Merlin comes up behind me. "I'll dry." He says, smiling. We get into a routine of washing and drying.

"Are you okay, Lila?" "Yeah. I mean, I was already kind of nervous because I knew King Arthur was coming, but you really made my day when you came in a hundred years younger with the most famous king who is currently violently ill and clueless. But yeah, I'm fine."

He chuckles "Sorry. I should've warned you about the age thing and Arthur's condition." "Yes, you should have." "Sorry."

"So, you really are you? It's just a new look, right? You haven't changed?" Merlin looks down at a plastic bowl. "Actually, I do feel different. I feel younger, excited, I feel like I did when I really was this young. But I'm still Merlin. I still remember everything."

I feel relieved after hearing that. Everything's okay. I hear a muffled yell come from upstairs, "Merlin!" Merlin looks at me with a half-smile, "He's a bit demanding, as you can tell." He drops the dish towel in the sinks and runs up the stairs.


	7. Chapter 7

Merlin walked through the bedroom door to find Arthur on the floor. The two look at each other for a moment, "I only tried getting up."

Merlin sighed and grabbed him by the arms, "You really shouldn't have." He helped get Arthur back into the bed. Arthur grunted and moaned in pain.

"Merlin, what's wrong with me? Why do I feel so … awful?" "You're not well. You just have to stay in bed for a week or two and regain your strength." Arthur looked up at Merlin.

"Okay. We're here, in your 'Cave', are you going to answer my questions now?" Merlin sighed. "Give me a moment."He ran out the door and to the top of the staircase.

He yelled down the stairs to Lila, "Lila! Go get some food! Not pizza, he doesn't like eating with his hands!" He walked back to the bedroom. "Lila's getting some food. It'll probably be at least an hour; we live pretty far away from any businesses."

"I don't care about food, Merlin! I want some answers!" Merlin sighed and sat on the foot of the bed.

"Alright then, let's get started. First of all, you did die. I couldn't save you, it was too late." "Then how am I alive?" Merlin looked away.

"That is something beyond my knowledge. Something the gods of the old religion decided on long before you and I were even born." "What the hell does that mean?!" Merlin smiled, "You're more than just any king, Arthur. You are the Once and Future King." Arthur groaned in frustration, "You keep saying that but what does it mean?!"

Merlin looked at him with grave seriousness, "Your death had been foretold centuries before it happened. It was also said, that in Albion's time of need, you would return." Arthur looked at him with disbelief.

"What a load of crap! For goodness sakes! Just tell me what happened." "I swear to God, it's true. Honestly." "No. No, no, no, no, no. You … are trying to make me into a fool. Well it won't work, Merlin."

"Fine, don't believe me. But it's true. And if you don't believe that, you won't believe anything else I have to say." Arthur gave a frustrated sigh, "Okay, so you're saying I just came back from the dead. Why?" "I don't really know. From what I can tell, something awful is about to happen, but I can't seem to focus in on what it is."

"How do you even know all this?" "Dreams, prophecies, rituals, … There are lots of ways to see the future." Arthur looked at him "You can see the future?" "Yeah." "It just gets weirder and weirder with you, doesn't it?"

Merlin smiled, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Should I continue?" "Alright. So I came back from the dead. What else?" "You've been dead for quite a while." "How long?" Merlin hesitated.

"Roughly fifteen hundred years, two months, and nine days. Arthur, this is going to be hard for you, but if it makes you feel better, Gwen had a good long life." Arthur tried to sit up in a rush,

"WHAT?!" "Arthur! Get your head back, you'll hurt yourself!"

Arthur grabbed Merlin by his scarf. "That's not funny Merlin! It's not funny!" "Arthur, calm_ OW!"

Merlin's scarf tightened around his neck from Arthur's grip. He managed to get the scarf off his neck and backed away from a wild Arthur.

"Arthur, I know it's hard. But getting this upset will make your condition worse." Arthur threw Merlin's scarf and pointed a finger at him, "I'm sick of your games, Merlin! I want some real explanations without this crap!" He took a pillow and threw it at Merlin. Merlin ran out of the room and down the stairs.

He tied his scarf back around his neck and said to himself "This is going to take a while."


	8. Chapter 8

I get back around eight with three pad thais and enough food to last us the next few days. Merlin is in the living room watching the BBC news with all the lights out. "Hey Lila, what did you get? I'm starving!"

I'm kind of shocked to hear him say that. He never talked like that before the de-aging spell. "Pad thai." I put the grocery bags in the fridge and plop next to him on the old couch with two pad thais and two plastic forks.

"Thanks." He says, taking a pad thai and fork. "You used to yell at me for that. Jumping on the couch." He opens the Styrofoam box, "It's fine, I don't mind."

I watch the telly with him for a few minutes. "Should I take him up a pad thai or is he sleeping?" Merlin stuffs another forkful of pad thai in his mouth and answers with his mouth full.

"You can go check. He attacked me with pillows last time I saw him. He's not taking it well." I nod and get the two uneaten pad thais.

I walk to his bedroom door and knock four times. I hear a weak reply from inside, "What?" I open the door and step in.

"Are you hungry? I brought food." He's in bed and turns to face me. He's extremely pale and sweating all over the pillows. He nods his head weakly. I walk to the bed, open one of the boxes and hand it to him with a fork.

"How are you feeling?" He looks at me, "Lousy. My head hurts." "Here." I put my hand on his sweaty forehead and mutter a short healing spell. I see some of the pain leave his eyes and he looks at me surprised.

"You have magic too?" I nod. He sits up in the bed and looks at the food. "Your name is Lila?" "And yours is Arthur."

He picks up a forkful of food and examines it. "Why is you hair like that?" I touch my hair. I realize how alarming it must be for him to see a girl with bright pink hair.

"I made it like this. I wanted to stand out." He eats the pad thai, "Why?" I hesitate, "All of my life I've been told that I can't let anyone know about my gift. I have to pretend to be like everyone else when I'm not. I'm sick of it. I'm different and I don't want to have to hide it anymore. I don't want people to look past me without giving me any thought. I want people to know I'm different, I want to be noticed. So I made my hair pink."

He looks up, surprised. "Magic is still outlawed?" I hesitate, "Not exactly. No one believes it exists anymore. They think it's just superstition. If people were to find out it would scare them because they don't understand it, and people tend to try to destroy the things that scare them. So we have to hide."

He nods. "How do you know Merlin?" "Has he told you about the … time yet?" He sighs, "I will not believe that everyone I've ever known is dead, it's crazy."

I look at him. "You must, you'll never believe anything we tell you if you don't believe that." He finishes the pad thai.

"Where's Merlin?" "He's downstairs. He said you attacked him with pillows." "Could you ask him if, when he likes, he would come up and see me?" I got up.

"I'll ask him." I go back down the stairs carrying my pad thai.

"He wants you." I tell him as I sit next to him and at last begin eating. "What for?" "Don't know." He gets up and goes to the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

Arthur looked up as Merlin entered the room. "Don't throw anything! I come in peace!" Merlin walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Can you prove it?" Merlin looked at Arthur, "Prove what?" "Can you prove that it's been thousands of years?" Merlin nodded. "I can't right now, but I'll probably be able to sometime tomorrow." "Why not now?" "I don't have the proof right now and by the time I get to a bookstore they would've closed already."

Arthur looked up, "I'll believe you, if you can prove it." "Alright, deal." "But if you can't prove it, you have to take me back to Camelot." "Deal."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, both unsure what to say now. "How are you doing?" "Fine. I'm just glad I'm not vomiting or coughing up blood." Merlin cleared his throat, "Yeah, that was pretty disgusting." "Shut up, Merlin." "Okay."

They both started laughing. "I never thought I'd miss being told to shut up so much." Arthur laughed. "I never thought I'd miss telling you to." Arthur laughed for a bit more, then stopped abruptly when his chest started hurting. Merlin stopped as suddenly as Arthur had.

"You okay?" "Yeah fine, just a little bit of pain. I'm fine. No, Merlin, I don't want you to use magic on me. I'm fine." Merlin pulled his hand away, "So, you're still opposed to magic?" Arthur hesitated. "I'm not opposed to it … I just need some time to … get used to it." Merlin nodded.

"Who's the girl?" Arthur asked. "She's a druid. I found her when she was a baby and I raised her. Her parents were killed by panicked law enforcers after they used magic. She's a good kid."

"I like her hair." Merlin laughed. "Yeah. I was pretty mad at first when I saw it, but I've kind of warmed up to it." "She told me she did it because she wanted to be recognized. I'll bet that's how you always felt." "I did, but it's far better to never be recognized for who you are, than to be hated and feared because of it. You should rest now. I'll be back in the morning with some proof. If you need anything, call for Lila. Goodnight."

Merlin got up and walked towards the door. "Goodnight."


	10. Chapter 10

I woke up early this morning. I didn't mean to, I just couldn't sleep.

I roll out of bed, bringing my top sheet down with me. I slowly untangle myself from the sheet and crawl to my closet. I grab on to the edge of my bed and pull myself up. I flip the light switch and wait a few seconds for the lights to turn on. I turn to my left and look into the mirror hanging above my dresser.

My bright pink hair is knotted and my acne appears to have spread further across my forehead. I'm wearing baggy purple sweat pants and a white tank top. I grab my hairbrush and begin battle with my hair knots. I put my brushed hair up in a sloppy bun and go downstairs.

I find Gaius rolled up on the kitchen floor. He lifts his head when I come in and sticks out his tongue in a friendly dog smile. "You hungry Gaius?" I go to the shelf and get his food and bowl. He barks as I pour dog food in his bowl and then he begins to feast in a messy, canine matter.

I look back at the shelf above the oven and notice the car keys are gone. I go to Merlin's door and knock, "Merlin?" There is no answer so I assume he has gone out.

I get myself a bowl of cereal and milk and make myself a cup of coffee. I watch the news in the living room while I eat. Nothing too exciting seems to be happening and so they're showing some stuff on the royal family.

I really don't care that much about what they like to eat for breakfast so I turn it off. When I'm done eating, I go back upstairs to my room.

I choose from random a pair of ripped jean shorts and a breast-cancer-awareness tee shirt and change. I find hiking boots and socks to go with, and go back downstairs. I grab a plastic water bottle from the fridge and go out the front door.

I do this every morning since we moved here. I like the quietness of these woods and I just like knowing what's around.

Today, I go South, where I've explored the least. I step around rocks and fallen branches as I walk. I go down a hill and find a little creek with a little stream feeding it water. I watch small fish chase each other around and a frog relaxing on a floating leaf.

I whisper a small spell. Bubbles start floating of the surface of the water and up toward the trees. The fish swim around in confusion and the frog jumps of his leaf in a hurry to get out of the water.

I go on for a bit but decide to head back after about thirteen minutes. When I get back I take off my shoes and socks and gather some food on a tray.

I don't know what kings eat for breakfast, so I just take a bit of everything, I guess I should've watched the news this morning. When I get to the upstairs hallway I hear coughing coming from King Arthur's room.

I rush inside and put the tray on the floor. He's thrashing around in the bed like he's having a seizure. I run to his side, grab his face before he can turn away and say a spell.

He stops thrashing and coughing. "Are you okay?" He just kind of groans in response to my question and closes his eyes for a few seconds. He opens his eyes again and looks at me.

"What time is it?" He whispers with a harsh voice.

"Seven-thirty." He sits up in bed and wipes sweat from his forehead.

"Are you hungry?" I ask him. He nods his head and I go get the tray off the floor. "I wasn't sure what you'd eat, so I just took a bit of everything. We have cold cereal, crumpets, toast … I can make you eggs and bacon if you like. There's coffee, orange juice, apple juice, milk, and water to drink. Umm, I think that's it."

He looks at me, kind of confused and just sort of whispers "Eggs?" "Okay, eggs, great."

I take the tray back downstairs and turn on the stove. I get out some eggs and realize something. I run back up the stairs and into his room. "How do you want them?"

He looks up, startled, "Umm, I don't know."

I pause. "I'll make you scrambled." I run back down the stairs and start. I make him some toast too and bring up margarine, jam, coffee, and water with his food. I walk up the stairs, carefully, with the tray and then into his room and set the tray down across his lap.

He looks at the tray, sort of confused, I guess. He picks up the fork and pokes at the eggs.

"Something wrong?" I ask him, a little self-conscious of my cooking. He shakes his head and eats a forkful of eggs.

"Where's Merlin?"

"I don't know. He took the car so I guess he went into town."

He frowned, "Car. Those enclosed metal carriages with no horses?"

"Yep."

He eats some more. "You should tell him that this game of his is absolutely ridiculous."

"What game?"

He looks at me. "_Fifteen hundred years. _It's not funny."

"Oh, alright." I play on my phone while he finishes his breakfast.

"What's that thing?"

"It's a mobile phone." I exit my game. "It allows you to talk to people who are far away. For example; if we both had mobiles and you were here and I was in town, I could dial your phone number and we could talk to each other through the mobiles."

"Is it magic?"

"Actually no, it's science. A lot has changed since you've been gone. We can talk to people through phones, there are moving pictures, and even the internet. The internet's going to be very hard to explain to you, I think."

"Try."

I pause. "Think of it as another world all around us, but invisible. Instead of it being filled with people and animals, it's filled with knowledge. Through things like mobiles and computers we can look into this world, and even add to it. You can search for things you need. For example; suppose I needed to learn how to cook, I can just go on the internet on my phone and search: 'How to cook'. Look."

As I spoke I pulled up the internet and searched 'How to cook'. Arthur takes the mobile and scrolls through the findings.

"Is this magic?"

"No. Magic is very rare in this century; the druids have been led to the edge of extinction. Those who still live have to hide who they are and never use their powers. I'm lucky to have Merlin, who can teach me how to use my magic."

He hands me back my mobile and finishes off the last of his toast. He opens his mouth like he's going to say something and then we both turn our heads as we hear the front door unlocked.

Arthur yells, "Merlin?!" We hear a thunk.

"I'm fine! I'll be there in a second!"

Arthur hands me the tray and thanks me. I go downstairs and put the tray down by the kitchen sink. I can hear things falling and Merlin grunting in the living room.

I go in and am shocked to see great big paper bags filled to the brim with books and loose papers and documents. He looks over the top of a bag he's carrying and he says, "Could you help me?"

We each take up one bag of books and dump them next to Arthur's bed, letting some of them fall out on the floor. Arthur's eyes go wide, "What the! …"

Merlin runs out the room, "Hold on a minute, we still have two more bags."

I help carry another bag up the stairs and I dump it next to the other bags. Arthur sits up in bed, startled and speechless.

"What is all this?!"

Merlin picks one book up, panting slightly. "It's us."

He gives Arthur the book and Arthur reads the front silently. "What is this?" He asks quietly.

"I'm sorry, Arthur." He gives Arthur more books and Arthur reads all of their titles. "This has to be some kind of joke."

I curiously pick a book from the closest bag and read the title aloud, "_The Adventures of King Arthur: The Quest for the Golden Trident_."

Merlin looks at Arthur with clear empathy in his eyes, "You wanted proof. I think this qualifies."

Arthur takes a book and throws it at Merlin's head. Merlin stops the book before it hits him with magic.

"It's not true! You're using magic, trying to trick me! Where's Gwen?! Stop lying to me, take me back to Camelot!"

Merlin drops the book. "Camelot has fallen! Gwen is dead! This is not a trick! You're a legend Arthur, you're the Once and Future King."

Arthur holds his palms to his head and starts crying. I leave the room.


	11. Chapter 11

It's been three months. Arthur has accepted the time distance, but he's very quiet and I still hear him crying at night. He's been out of bed and walking for two months now and he's learning how to use the stuff in the Cave. The first time we showed him the telly he tried to go in and save Louis Lane. It's a slow process, but he's learning.

Yesterday the three of us drove into town. I did the shopping while Merlin showed Arthur around. He's decided he prefers solid over plaid, fried eggs instead of scrambled, sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties music over modern pop, and action movies over dramas. He's fascinated by the shower and wants someone to teach him to shoot the shotgun in the living room. I told him I'd try to get Merlin out of the house one day and take him into the woods to shoot beer bottles, but I don't think I'll try that until he's gotten some more strength. He shakes when he holds things and, despite constantly feeding him, he's been losing a lot of weight.

Merlin's been paying a lot of attention to the news lately. He keeps saying something's about to happen. Well whatever it is, it's sure taking forever. I'm okay with that though. I like Arthur, I like his fascination in little stuff we usually take for granted. He and Merlin are slowly picking up on their old friendship. It's hard for both of them; Merlin has been waiting so long for his return and feels sorry for him because he never got to live his whole life, Arthur is shocked and confused at being here, he only learned about Merlin's powers right before he died and had Merlin as a servant before that.

Arthur keeps asking what we should do now, but Merlin won't tell either of us anything about it. He just says something's about to happen. Arthur is frustrated and hurt that Merlin won't share his knowledge with him, but I've learned over the years that when Merlin keeps things from people, he is trying to protect them, some things are better not knowing.

Merlin leads me down the stairs into the basement, Arthur follows behind me. "Okay, let's do some review. Turn the table."

I look at the old wooden table off to the right and mutter a spell. The table turns into a large brown dog.

"Oh my God!"

We both look at Arthur. "Arthur, are you sure you can watch without freaking out and distracting my pupil?"

Arthur looks at the dog and nods, "Sorry."

Merlin turns back to me. "Again."

I mutter a spell. The dog turns into a stone statue.

"Again." I turn the statue into a pile of sand.

"Again." I turn the sand into a glass vase.

"Good, now make it something useful."

I turn it into a glass pitcher. "Now I can have something to make lemonade in."

"Very good! Now," he throws a book at me "Page one-hundred-seven."

I turn to the page. It reads; _Illusions: Section 5 Injuries_. I read the spell aloud.

"Not exactly, make the chi sound more like a shi sound."

I try it again.

"Good. Now to make it work you have to imagine the wound. Create an image in your mind and put it on your body."

I close my eyes and think. I say the spell. I hear Arthur gasp sharply. I open my eyes and see the two of them staring at me, Arthur looks disgusted and Merlin is smiling contently.

"Classic, I like it."

I go to touch my temples and instead find myself holding two ends of an arrow. "Oh my God!" I laugh. "It worked!"

I say a spell at part of a wall and it becomes a reflecting surface. There is a bloody arrow going through my head, just like I'd imagined it.

"It isn't really there so you can't kill or hurt people with it, but it's pretty useful if you ever have to fake a death. Alright the reversal spell is on the next page."

I practice the fake wounding spell and reversing it for a while. Then we move on to disguising illusions.

"Oh my God!" Arthur exclaims upon seeing himself where Merlin used to be. Merlin looks at him and starts laughing at him.

"What? What the …" He looks over at the mirror and sees Merlin's reflection instead of his own. "I don't like this, change us back."

We do some more lessons before I finish the short book on illusions. We walk back up the stairs.

"That was a very good day Lila. You get better every time."

"Yeah, you'll be better than Merlin soon enough."

"She will not!"

"No need to be jealous, Merlin."

They go on talking while I look through the fridge. "Chicken or pasta?"

"Chicken." Says Merlin.

I take out the frozen chicken dinners and empty them on a baking tray. Merlin and Arthur go to the living room and I hear the telly turn on. I am about to put the tray in the oven when I hear a shouts and crying people come from the telly.

"What's going on?!" I ask.

I put the tray down on the counter and go into the living room. They both stand in front of the telly, blocking my view. Merlin just quietly says, "It's time to teach you how to shoot that gun, Arthur."


	12. Chapter 12

Flight 370. I was expecting something more … terrible. Of course it is terrible, but I was thinking more along the lines of; crazy terrorists or alien invasion, a missing plane isn't what I'd consider "Britain's darkest hour".

We're in the woods, all three of us, and Arthur is holding the shotgun between two shaking hands. I grab from my bag six beer bottles and balance them on a low tree branch. I smile at Arthur reassuringly.

"For each bottle you hit, you get ten minutes less sleep." We've been enforcing a nine-thirty curfew for him, to help him regain his strength. He really doesn't like the curfew, insisting that he feels fine and he's not a child, but Merlin and I agree it's helping.

Merlin shows him how to hold it and shoots one of the bottles. Arthur takes it from him and holds the shotgun. He copies all of Merlin's movements and shoots. He stumbles back from the force. All but Merlin's bottle are completely fine.

"That's okay, Arthur, you'll get it."

"Never thought you'd be teaching me how to fight." He shoots again. Nothing. Again. Still nothing. He keeps shooting for a while but can't seem to hit anything.

"I'll be back, anyone want a ginger ale?"

Merlin raises his hand, "I'll take one."

"Arthur?"

He reloads the shotgun. "Not till I've shot at least one bottle."

I go inside and get two ginger ales from the fridge. Merlin takes his gratefully and I watch Arthur get ready to fire.

He breaths in deeply, lifts the gun, cocks it, and shoots. A bottle falls, another shatters, one, two, three more shatter. He stands there, still in position.

For four seconds there is silence and then Merlin whoops and laughs. Arthur puts down his arm and starts laughing and whooping with Merlin. I run to Arthur and hug him, laughing.

The moon is starting to become more visible and so the two of them start howling at it like wolves. I laugh and join them. The three of us howl at the moon and laugh like we have nothing to worry about. _We're doomed._

Flight 370 was just the beginning. Nineteen planes, thirty-two boats, and three submarines, probably more we haven't heard about. Let's not forget about the earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. Yesterday it was minus two degrees Celsius, today it's twenty-four. I keep having to go shopping because of this weather and prices are rising by the hour.

I stand in the kitchen looking in the fridge. I grab six beers and put them in the cooler on the floor. I add two boxes of Chinese leftovers and a plastic wrapped tomato and mozzarella sandwich to the cooler.

Merlin yells from outside "When will you be ready?"

"I just need to pack the cooler and blankets. I'll be out in a mo."

I go to the living room with the cooler and take two blankets from the couch in my other hand. I take one final look at the living room. Four months seems like a much longer time when you're hiding from civilization, hiding from your past, and teaching a man out of time how to function in the modern world.

I turn around and go out the open door. The car is practically filled to the limit with bags and loose supplies. I go to the back and squeeze the cooler and blankets in between bags.

Merlin's on top of the car tying a bag on to the roof rails. As I walk past him I whisper to myself "Please don't fall, please don't fall, …"

Arthur walks out the front door with a backpack over one shoulder. "Having a little trouble Merlin?"

Merlin jumps off the car roof "No I'm doing just fine thanks."

Arthur goes to the back of the car to find a place to put his bag, "Just as well, Lila could always drive."

We're all wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. Merlin already smells from sweat, but he did do most of the work. Merlin looks at us "You guys ready?"

"Yes."

"Well let's go then."

I get in the back seat and Arthur takes shotgun. Merlin turns on the car and as we pull out of the drive way Arthur looks at Merlin, "Where exactly are we going?"

He keeps his eyes on the road and answers in one, extremely unspecific word,

"Home."


	13. Chapter 13

We've been driving for eight hours straight and I do believe I will die of boredom long before we ever reach civilization. I am too bored and uncomfortable to care about my safety so I am sprawled out across backseat not wearing a seat belt. It's probably something like four in the afternoon but the sun is already going down. Weird weather patterns lately.

Someone's stomach makes a long groan and Arthur asks a very quietly, "Do we have any food left?"

I groan as I sit up and go looking in the cooler at my feet. "We've still got a bag of potato crisps and two beers."

Arthur sighs "Give me the crisps and a beer."

I hand him up his crisps and beer. He takes it and I hear the bottle cap come off. There is a pause.

"How much longer are we going to be driving into random country side."

Merlin speaks for the first time in four hours. "Until we get there."

"You seem awfully tense." I observe.

"Yes, I'm a bit tense. I've been driving for at least eight hours and we're lost. So yes, Lila, I'm a bit tense."

Arthur and I exclaim in unison, "We're lost?!"

"Yes we're lost."

"How long have we been lost?!"

"Few hours."

"I don't suppose you were ever going to let us know, were you?"

"Yes and I am already regretting that decision."

Arthur looks back at me, "Can you believe this guy?"

"Oi! I'm right here."

Arthur turns back. "Let me see the map."

"No way! You don't know anything about driving cars, you'd prolly send us round in a giant circle."

"Well I'd still prolly be better than you!"

"I am not that bad, I just lost concentration and I can't tell where we are exactly."

"Yeah, great job Merlin! You should get an award for your unmatched navigational skills!"

"Oi!"

"Cut it out boys! I am not going to listen to you two prats yelling at each other all the way till nightfall! Now let's just find some civilization and ask where we are."

"Where the heck are we going to find civilization? We're surrounded by grass! Nothing but grass! There's probably nothing but grass for miles!"

Merlin yells at us, "Shut up guys! Look over there! I think it's an inn!"

Arthur and I strain our necks in that direction.

"What would an inn be doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"Don't know, but it's our best option." Merlin takes a left and we drive towards the mysterious inn.


	14. Chapter 14

A man by the name of David Steele was hanging up some wet clothes, on a fall afternoon, right outside of a little inn he called home. Hardly anyone ever came to the inn, it was sort of in the middle of nowhere. He was just about to hang up the last shirt when he heard a car pull into the gravel driveway at the front of the inn. He hung up the shirt and walked around to the front.

Two young men and a young woman got out of a small car. The car had a huge bag strapped to the top and the people looked tired and grumpy. He called to them as the dark haired boy started for the front door.

"Um, hello. I'm David. Can I help you young people with something?"

The dark haired boy smiled and took a few steps toward him. He was pale and wore long brown trousers, a red tee shirt with some kind of logo on it and a blue scarf tied around his neck. "Um, hello, yeah. Could you tell us where we are, exactly?"

"You're fifteen miles away from Fleetsville."

"Oh, good, good … Well, thanks, we'll be on our way …"

"Have you got any vacant rooms?" The girl interrupted. She was tall, attractive, and had bright pink hair. She wore a plain orange tee shirt, black athletic shorts, and white, rubber flip-flops.

"Sure. I don't really get visitors that often."

"Oh good. We'll take two rooms, thanks. How much will this cost us?"

The dark haired boy looked at the girl as if trying to give a warning.

"Oh, a hundred pounds?"

"Perfect. Come on boys! Let's unload."

The dark haired boy walked to the girl and talked quietly to her. "Lila, we don't have time for this. We still have daylight; we can make it to Fleetsville before …"

"We're tired. We won't find anything this cheap in Fleetsville. Come on, just help us get what we need."

The blond boy did not say anything. He was a handsome fellow and wore a blue tee shirt with a logo, knee long jean shorts, and a pair of large brown sunglasses.

The inn was very small, for an inn, but David always thought it was a bit too big for him. He was the kind of fellow who would be happy with nothing but a small cave and a fire, but everyone has to eat.

He led the three new visitors to their rooms, giving the girl a room to herself and the two boys one to share. The blond boy did not seem at all happy about it but did not say anything to the other boy, instead he muttered under his breath something about "a king who could've had anything and now I've got to share a crappy inn room with Merlin".

Did he say "Merlin"? No, David thought, he heard the boy wrong. The dark haired boy filled out the registry using the name Colin Morgan, definitely not Merlin.

When he had made sure all of his new guests were settled and happy, he went down to the basement with a torch. He had to use the torch because the family wouldn't let him turn on the lights. "To bright!" they always said. "You know how we despise bright lights! They hurt us!" So David had to use a dim torch.

He walked down the old creaky steps carefully. When he reached the bottom, he accidentally shined the light in Daniel's eyes. Daniel hissed at David, "Ugh! What's the matter with you?! You dumb, no good twat!"

"I'm sorry."

Harold's voice interrupted them from the darkness, "David. What news do you bring us?"

"I've got three upstairs. Very young, very fresh. They're only staying the night so we've got to strike in a few hours. The sun's only starting to go down so they'll be wide awake for a while now."

Tula spoke from the darkness, "Only three? There are four of us, and I am not sharing with Daniel again."

"Agreed, I'm not sharing with her again."

Harold spoke out, "It's alright. David and I will share one. Make sure you pick us a fat one."

"Unfortunately, they're all sort of scrawny, but I'll try and pick the fattest one."

David stayed down there with the family for a little while and then went back upstairs so that his guests would not notice his absence.


	15. Chapter 15

We've stopped at this cute little inn in the middle of nowhere, but that's okay, I'm used to the middle of nowhere. It's empty except for this one guy, David. He's short and a little on the heavy side. He has dusty grey brown hair, blackish-greyish eyes, and a very pale complexion. He seems nice.

My room is small and smothered in the color green. Arthur and Merlin are sharing the room across from mine and their room color is purple. Merlin is stressing the fact that we have to leave as soon as the sun comes up. I don't see why Merlin's so nervous about staying in a nice little inn, with a nice little man running it, and a very nice price for it all. I guess it's just one of those old guy things, being suspicious of everyone you don't already know, but I thought Merlin had moved on from being an old man. I guess some things never change.

I walk across the hallway to the other room. I knock a few times and Merlin opens the door. Arthur is lying down on the second bed reading the outdated brochure for the inn.

"See? It isn't so bad here." I say as I walk to the first empty bed and sprawl myself out on it.

"We could've been at Fleetsville by now."

"Oh, stop complaining, Merlin. All that driving has made you grumpy and we're starving! I hope we eat soon."

As soon as the words escape my mouth someone knocks on the door. Merlin goes to answer it.

"Hello, Mr. Morgan. I hope you're all settled comfortably?"

"Um, yes, I think we are."

"Oh good. I have prepared some dinner if you and your companions are hungry. I hope you all like beef stew?"

Arthur jumps up from the bed, "Sounds good to me."

"Very good. You can all come down whenever you're ready." He leaves and Merlin closes the door.

"Do any of you guys notice something … different about David?"

"No. He seems pretty normal to me." Says Arthur.

"He lives in the middle of nowhere in an inn. When I signed the registry, I saw that we are the only people to stay at this inn for six months. How does an inn keeper make a living if hardly anyone ever stays at the inn?"

Arthur and I think for a bit. "Maybe he's got a wealthy family. Look, he doesn't seem evil to me and we're only staying the night. If it makes you comfortable we'll put door stoppers under our doors tonight so no one can get in. But in the meantime, I'm famished. Come on Arthur."

Arthur and I leave the room and go downstairs to the dining room. It's bigger than the other rooms and especially dusty. The long wooden table has painted china plates set before each chair along with unpolished silverware and folded blue cloth napkins. The old white lace table cloth matches the lace curtains making strange designs over the whole room. David comes out of from a door on the left with a large silver bowl. He talks as he sets the bowl down on the far end of the table.

"Hello youngsters. I have made you my classic beef stew for dinner tonight. And where is Mr. Morgan?"

"Um, I'm sure he'll be down in a minute."

He starts pouring stew into china bowls. "Very good. I wouldn't want one of my guests to go to bed hungry. Come sit down. I'm sorry everything here is so old and dusty, I really should clean it up some time."

Arthur and I walk to the other end of the table and sit down. We hear someone come down the stairs and see Merlin come and take a seat between David and I.

"Ah, Mr. Morgan, I'm glad you came. Shall we eat?"

We ate silently. The stew was very good, but had a taste I didn't quite recognize. I looked over and noticed David had not eaten any of his. Arthur starts drooling first. His head sinks down slowly and he puts his elbow on the table to try and keep it up. I put down my spoon as I notice Merlin begin to nod off. I look at David as he smiles and my vision starts to blur. I squint at him as Arthur's head drops into his bowl and Merlin falls out of his chair and onto the floor.

My head starts to sink and I whisper sleepily "What have you …?"


	16. Chapter 16

Harold sniffed the girl's hair and felt his way around her middle. "Let's take this one, David. I'd say she and the Morgan fellow are about the same, but I do tend to enjoy the females better."

David nodded, "I like her too. Which ones do you want?"

Tula picked the pretty one's head up out of the stew and examined it. "I'll take this one. He's a little skinnier than the other, but he's awfully pretty."

Daniel licked his lips as he looked at the Morgan fellow, "I have no complaints."

Harold nodded. "Very well. Let's take them down to the basement and we can get started."

The family helped one another carry their meals down the old creaky staircase. The basement was dark, but vampires can see perfectly fine in it, except for David, who spent so much of his time in the light that his night vision had almost completely deteriorated. They carried their meals to their own corners of the basement.

Daniel made a mistake. Daniel was not content with sucking the blood out of a sleeping human, that wasn't very fun. Daniel liked to rile up his victims, make them scream and beg and to see the life drain from their eyes. The others thought it was immature and silly to play with their food. Daniel started trying to wake his meal up while the others got the necks ready.

Daniel slapped the Morgan fellow's face, over and over again. Merlin's mind began to transition back to consciousness as he felt pain come from his cheeks. He slowly opened his eyes and then woke up suddenly with a start. Daniel pinned him down and hissed at him, showing his sharp fangs. Merlin struggled and yelled a spell.

Daniel flew back and hit the far wall. He got on his feet, screaming with rage. Merlin held out his hand and said another spell. Daniel fell on the floor, this time screaming in pain. His screams quickly stopped and he lay on the floor motionless. The other vampires turned away from their meals and gathered around Merlin.

Tula jumped at Merlin and then she was thrown back and landed beside Daniel, motionless. Harold and David circled around Merlin, "So," hissed Harold. "The Morgan fellow is a warlock. I hate warlocks. They always think they're so special with their magic spells and incantations. Well, tonight he feast on you and make an example for your kind."

They both jumped Merlin at once and together the pinned him down. "Gag him! So he can't say a spell!"

David grabbed Merlin's scarf and stuffed it in his mouth. Merlin choked. "Let's just finish this one quick!" David leaned over Merlin's neck and bared his fangs.

David flew forward into the nearest wall and lost consciousness. Harold looked behind him and hissed at the girl who had hurt David.

"Get the hell away from him you pathetic monster." She held out her hand and said a spell. The pathetic monster burst into flames, leaving a coat of ash on Merlin's back. Merlin got up and took the scarf out of his mouth.

"Lila!" She collapsed in one elegant downward movement. Merlin ran to Lila's unconscious body and saw the blood gushing out the side of her neck. In a panic he held his scarf to the wound and applied pressure. Seconds later the scarf was soaked in blood. Merlin said a powerful healing spell, one of the most powerful he knew. The blood stopped flowing and two pairs of bite mark scars replaced the open wounds. Merlin held Lila in his arms.

"It's okay. You're alright. Everything is fine, Lila. Everything is fine."


	17. Chapter 17

Merlin woke Arthur up urgently. "It's time to go, wake up!" Merlin walked away and Arthur moaned,

"What?"

"Now!"

Arthur looked around and saw himself inside a dimly lit basement. It was mostly empty. Except for bones and dried blood stains which littered the cement floor. Arthur got up suddenly, hurting his head. "Oh my God!" He heard Merlin walking up the stairs and he followed.

At the top he recognized the dining room in the inn. "Oh my God. What happened?"

"I was right and you were wrong and David was a vampire with a vampire family in his basement and it's time to go so go get your stuff and be down here immediately or we leave without you." Merlin walked to the front of the inn and closed the door behind him.

Arthur walked up the stairs slowly, as he was still recovering from the sleeping potion from dinner. He found and repacked his things quickly so that Merlin would not be angry. Merlin waited for him outside the car and didn't look at him when he came out. Arthur went to the trunk and put his bag in.

"Merlin, are you mad at me?"

"We shouldn't have come here."

Arthur walked up to Merlin. "It's hardly my fault that the guy turned out to be a … whatever-you-called-it. Merlin? Merlin are you crying?"

Merlin broke down at that point. He gripped the car door handle. "They hurt her! They hurt her and it's my fault! I should have kept driving! It's my fault!" Merlin sobbed in between words.

Arthur looked into the car window and saw Lila sitting in the backseat with her eyes closed, blood all over her now more red than orange tee shirt, and a strip of cloth wrapped around her neck. Arthur had never had a child, he had wanted one, but had not actually had one, and he therefore did not understand the feelings a parent has towards their child. Everything is their fault even when it's not, because they are responsible for the child. If their child is hurt it's the end of the world, because to them the child is their world. There is nothing stronger in the world than the love a parent feels for their child.

"Merlin, it's okay. She's alright."

Merlin shook his head. "I healed the wounds, but the scars are still there. I can't take away the scars; I can't undo the pain she felt. Everyday she'll have to look at those scars and it will be my fault. People will look at her on the street and whisper to each other about those scars. Or she will hide them with scarfs and high collars and be embarrassed or ashamed of them and it will be my fault. I can never take them away. Even magic cannot undo pain, it can mask it or try to make it better, but scars are permanent because they are results, results cannot be taken away without taking away whatever it was a result of, and I cannot take away her pain."

Arthur held Merlin as he cried and looked at the rising sun. Except the sun does not rise, the Earth turns so that areas of the Earth cannot see the sun for a certain amount of time, and when the Earth turns so that the sun is partially but not completely in our vision, we say that the sun is rising because it appears to be rising out of the earth and into the sky, but really we are the ones moving and the sun is sitting perfectly still.

Arthur, of course, was not thinking any of this. As he held his crying friend, he was oblivious to the science of the rising sun, and he wouldn't have cared anyway. Maybe if he was not outside of a vampire's used-to-be home hugging his sobbing friend and worrying about a teenage girl he had only met four months ago, he would have been fascinated with the concept of a spinning world and a motionless sun, but at that moment only Merlin's grief and Lila's scars and Arthur's attempt at understanding Merlin's words existed.

This is how it is with humans. If things only exist inside a person's mind and each person has a world of their own, then the sun was rising and the world was perfectly still, because Lila was hurt, and Merlin was sad, and Arthur was carefully thinking over the words of his wise friend. Everyone has a life, and those who have lives also have their own separate worlds which belong to them. And this was King Arthur's world.


	18. Chapter 18

I wake up. Sort of. I'm still tired. _Yawn. Ouch! What the …?_ I open my eyes and my hand goes immediately to my neck. I feel thick, puffy tissue sitting out of my neck, like puffy mountains on a smooth plateau.

I look to my right. Merlin is sitting in a wooden chair with his back bent over and his head in his hands. I think I'm in a hotel. Not the cute little inn we were in earlier. I don't remember leaving. But I do remember eating a very tiring bowl of beef stew.

I look to my right, grab a brochure from off the bedside table, and hit Merlin in the head with him. His head pops up immediately, his swollen tear stricken face lights up with joy and relief, and he hugs me in bed with surprising strength. "Lila! I'm so sorry. I'm so so so so _so _sorry. I love you so much Lila. I love you."

"Merlin. What? I … OW!"

He pulls away quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Ugh. Your hug was suffocating me."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, stop apologizing. What's going on? What happened?"

"Vampires."

I looked at him sarcastically. "Vampires?"

"Vampires."

"_Vampires?_"

"Vampires."

I stuttered. "WHAT?"

"What?"

"VAMPIRES! WHAT THE HELL! SINCE WHEN DID VAMPIRES EXIST?"

"Please don't make me trace the history of vampire creation."

"AFTER ALL THESE YEARS YOU NEVER THOUGHT ONCE TO TELL ME OH BY THE WAY VAMPIRES ARE FUCKING REAL!"

"I didn't really think it mattered. It's not really the kind of thing I talk about a lot. I'm usually too busy telling you things about our destinies."

I laugh. He laughs. We laugh. Arthur comes through the door with a pile of white towels in his hands. He sees me and smiles. "The vampire has awoken!"

Merlin rolls his eyes and turns his head to face Arthur. "I've already told you, the vampires we encountered are of a different subclass from the ones that infect through biting. These vampires infect by poisoning their victims with their blood."

"So I'm fang-free?"

"Entirely." Merlin stands up to get out of my way as I get out of the bed. I walk past Arthur and Merlin who watch me go inside the bathroom and close the door.

I look at my reflection in the mirror. My hair is a total mess and my shirt is completely ruined. But I don't really care about that now. My hand goes to my neck and feels around from the left to the right. Thick, puffy, pink mountains on a smooth plateau of skin. They are hideous. The shape of bite marks in puffy pink skin sticking out of my neck. I want to gag.

I am so _despicably ugly_. My eyes start watering. _Stop it, Lila. It doesn't matter what you look like. You are a sorceress with an important destiny and it doesn't matter that you are ugly. _These are the words of my mind, but my heart can't stop from crying.

"Lila? Lila are you okay in there?"

"I'm fine!" I yell at Merlin through the door and through my tears.

"Lila? Lila please unlock the door."

"LEAVE ME ALONE! GODDAMNIT!" I pound on the door a few times in frustration and then sink to the floor in a puddle of self-pity.

Heart: _I'm hideous. _

Head: _Stop hating yourself for your goddamned looks. _

Heart: _I'll look like Merlin, always wearing a scarf. _

Head: _Shut up, looking like Merlin isn't that bad. _

Heart: _But I'm ugly! _

Head: _Shut up. _

Heart: _You shut up! And let me cry! If I have to live the rest of my life looking like this I have a right to cry for a few fucking minutes!_

My head stays silent.


	19. Chapter 19

I wake up around two in the morning to the sound of crying. _It's Arthur. _I think. _Just pretend to still be asleep and let him cry. _I hear someone else getting out of bed. _Probably Merlin_. And then I hear I hear Arthur speak, and he does not sound as if he's been crying.

"Hey mate, what's wrong?"

Merlin sniffles. "I'm sorry, I woke you up. I was just about to leave."

"No, you don't have to …"

"Lila."

I hear them both get up and go to the door. The door opens shortly, letting yellow light leak into the dark hotel room, and then closes. I sit up in bed. I am alone. I get up and go open the door. They are not in the hallway. I think about looking for them and I almost do, but I know I shouldn't.

I walk back inside, close the door, and turn on a light. I go sit on my bed and brush my hair. _Why would Merlin be crying? Out of the three of us he has the least reason to cry. _After I have brushed out my hair at least three times I turn on the telly. I watch a documentary about polar bears until I drift back to sleep.

I see myself in the backseat of the car. We are surrounded by great, ancient trees. Now I see all three of us getting out of the car and walking up a steep hill. Merlin jumps of the hill. We are in a cave, Arthur and Merlin are yelling at each other. There is a kind of natural pool in the cave, it whispers my name. _Lila. Lila. Lila._ I see myself walking towards it, crying. Arthur sees me and tries to run towards me, but Merlin restrains him. He yells my name and tells me not to do it. I see myself at the center of the lake, she turns towards Arthur and Merlin, and I hear her whisper in her mind _Thank you._

I wake up. I am sweating and breathing heavy. Sunlight lights the room. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and look at the clock. Nine AM. I get up slowly. Arthur sits on the other bed reading a book we'd bought for a few months ago, _History of Great Britain. _"Good morning Lila. Sleep well?"

"Um, no not really."

He closes the book. "Shame." He sits up on the bed and looks at me. "Merlin wants to go 'sight-seeing' today. He insists that as soon as you are up and ready we go meet him at the café down the street."

"Why would Merlin want to go sight-seeing? He's more than a thousand years old, you'd think he'd seen enough. And we're supposed to be on some sort of mission. Whatever happened to 'We have to get there as soon as possible'?"

"I really don't know. He hasn't been himself lately."

"I can definitely agree with that statement." I get dressed quickly so that I can go see whatever Merlin has in mind. It's cold today, so I wear long black jeans, a long sleeved white and blue striped tee shirt, a dark blue vest, a pair of ratty blue sneakers, and … a scarf. A plain black infinity scarf. Arthur wears dark jeans, a button down white shirt, green sneakers, and a pair of brown sunglasses.

We walk down the street and go into Wendy's Café. We find Merlin in the back seated at a round wooden table with a cup of black coffee. He wears dark brown trousers, a black jacket over a light blue tee shirt, white sneakers, and a blue scarf.

He gives us a big smile as we sit down. "This is Wendy's Café, but it was once known as Big Foot. This place was once a bar and restaurant that I used to come to back in the seventies. It was wild back then."

A woman in a short white collared dress comes to our table. "Can I get you sweeties something to drink?"

"Uh, two coffees please, thanks." The woman leaves.

"Merlin, what are we doing?"

"Having breakfast."

"No, I mean … Arthur said we were going sight-seeing. What do you mean? Why?"

Arthur sits back in his chair and we both look at Merlin. He gives a kind of unsure smile. "I just think it would be nice to … spend some time in an interesting place."

"We're in Fleetsville. You have a very boring idea of interesting."

"Well … we had a very exciting day yesterday and I think we should just have a few days to relax."

"A fewdays? What happened to 'We have to get there as soon as possible'?"

"Nothing. I just want to …"

The woman comes back with two cups of coffee. "Are you all ready to order?" Arthur gets fried eggs and toast, Merlin gets pancakes, and I get an omelet.

As the woman leaves, Merlin quietly whispers "Please … just humor me."


	20. Chapter 20

(AN: I'm sorry about this chapter because I don't think many of you will like it. I should remind you before reading this, that Merlin has a dark side just like the rest of us and considering his age, power, and destiny, it's a very dark dark side. I have thought this over a thousand times and I have decided that this an essential part of the story that cannot be left out, it may seem pointless at first, but I am planning ahead when I write. Taking into consideration the facts about the position of Merlin's character, his loyalty toward Arthur, and fifteen hundred years of waiting, I believe that this is something Merlin would do, and for that i am truly sorry. I encourage you to continue reading despite the angst that will be appearing more often as the story progresses. And once again, sorry.)

Merlin says he just wants to hang around here for a while, so that's what we do. We go everywhere there is to go in Fleetsville, which isn't a lot, and Merlin gives us background info on everything.

"How long did you live in Fleetsville?"

"A week."

"You know an awful lot for a guy who only lived here a week."

"It was an intense week."

Arthur is back at the hotel, hopefully sleeping. We made him go back because we're still not convinced he's done healing. Merlin and I are walking on the side of a bridge under a waxing crescent moon. He stops in the middle and we look over the water.

"What's going on with you Merlin?"

"What do you mean?"

"Sight-seeing in Fleetsville right after you were all 'We have to get there now'. And what happened last night?"

"Last night?"

"You were crying."

He sighs. "You were awake."

"You ought to know by now what a light sleeper I am."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"Don't apologize, tell me what's going on!"

He looks out across the water sadly. "I just … love you … so much. And I never really tell you because … because I'm not your dad or anything. I just took you in, you know. I didn't really realize what I was doing." He pauses. "I saw your parents die. I didn't stop it. I didn't even try. And then I just took you. I was awful. I didn't even bother to find out who you were." He's crying now.

I never knew this. Oh my God. He let my parents die. What? Is this some kind of sick joke? No, I don't believe it.

"I named you Lila. It was because of your hair. You had lilacs in your hair when I found you."

Oh my God. Oh my _God. _How could he? How _could _he? I've known him for as long as I remember. He taught me how to tie my shoelaces, how to turn on a car. He's like a father to me. I love him. How could _Merlin _do something like that to _me. _

He wipes his eyes. "And then I used you. I raised you like a servant, to be obedient. But you still had the nerve to dye your hair liked that." He chuckles for a second and then goes back to full on sobbing. "You must hate me. You should hate me. I am so sorry Lila. I'm so, so sorry. Oh God. I hate myself. I can't believe I …" And he loses it. He tries to speak but all that comes out are distorted sobs.

I can't believe it. No. _ is impossible. This is wrong. I trusted you! I loved you, goddamnit! I loved you! _I don't expect to punch him, I just do. And I don't really think about repeating the action over and over again, _but I'm not sorry. _I don't think about leaving him on the bridge, bleeding, sobbing, and yelling after me. Or going to the hotel and waking Arthur up. I know one thing, and one thing only, _Merlin is evil. _

I walk into the hotel room and turn on all the lights. Arthur groans. I go to his bed and shake him. "Get up! For God's sake get up!" I grab him by his arms and drag him off the bed.

"Ah! What the hell is going on! Lila? Lila what hell are you doing?"

_He's fooled us. He isn't the kind, wise man we thought he was. He is evil. There is pure evil in his soul. _I grab stuff from my drawer and stuff it into my bag. "We're leaving. Now! Get your stuff ready. What are you, deaf? Get up!"

He gets up. "What's going on? Where's Merlin?"

Tears start running down my face. "He's not coming! Come on!"

I grab his wrist and drag him into the hallway. _He is evil. He is evil! _Arthur struggles and yells. I yell back at him "Shut up you spoiled brat! I'm doing you a favor! Stop. Fighting. Me!" I let go of his wrist in the elevator and start sobbing.

Arthur grabs my shoulders and looks at me. "Lila. Lila look at me! What's wrong? Where's Merlin? Lila!"

The elevator opens and I go into the hotel lobby. Arthur follows me. I think he's yelling something at me. Who cares? I get into the car and close the door.

"Get in Arthur!"

"Merlin!"

I look in the side mirror and see Merlin running towards us. _He killed my parents. I grew up an orphan because of him. I hate him. I hate him! _"GET IN THE CAR ARTHUR! NOW!"

He reluctantly gets in the car. As soon as his door is mostly closed, I step on the gas.

"Lila! Lila, what's going on?!"

I cry/say, "The shotgun is in the glove compartment! Get it out!" Arthur gets it. I open the roof hatch. "Stand up and watch Merlin! If he tries anything shoot!"

"WHAT?!"

"YOU HEARD ME YOU DUMB PRAT!"

The car stops. I can't get it going. "It's Merlin."

"Shoot him!"

Arthur looks at me, then looks at Merlin.

"Shoot him! DAMNIT ARTHUR SHOOT HIM NOW!"

He does not shoot. I grab the shotgun from him and get out of the car. I see Merlin.

"Lila! Please, stop this!" I

am still crying and my eyesight is blurred. I can't think. I hold up the gun and aim for him. I miss. _My whole life is a lie. _I miss again. _You used me! You watched them die so you could take me! _"GET BACK YOU MISERABLE SON OF A BITCH!"

He keeps walking towards me. I keep shooting. _All of my life! All you have ever done is lie to me! _He is only a yard away when I run out of bullets. I am sobbing. I keep trying to shoot even though I am out of bullets. _I hate you. I hate you. I hate you! I HATE YOU! _He is so close to me now.

"I'm sorry."

I fall to my knees on the street pavement, holding the gun. "How could you? How? How?"

He gets on his knees and pulls me close to him. I don't fight, I just let him tell me it's okay. That we're going to be fine. And for a moment … _I believe him._

(AN: I really hope you don't hate me now because if you don't like me for this chapter, you will loathe me for the next, or possibly the one after that, I haven't quite decided whether I'm going to separate them or not. I would like to take this chance to thank those of you who have been following this story and especially my reviewers; ELLI.1773, who was first to review and expressed their wish for me to continue publishing, whatswiththemustache (I'd like to ask if that is a reference to John Watson's ridiculous mustache at the beginning of Sherlock Season 3 because if so I give you a thunderous applause, if not, cool username) who has given reviews for every chapter of this story and inspired me with her enthusiasm, and last but not least, my anonymous reviewer who has shown support for the character Lila, thanked me for publishing daily, and asked a very serious question about the state of Arthur. In response to your question I will remind you that Arthur has been at the bottom of a lake, perfectly preserved both physically and mentally, for something like fifteen hundred years. After his incredibly long underwater nap, he is struck by lightning, pulled out of the water by excalibur, and then promptly faints in front of his very aged friend. Imagine the kind of trauma Arthur has just gone through, and then you have to consider how the world has changed since Arthur's time. Our atmosphere is disgusting, we are suffering from global warming, and Arthur has very little, if any, immunity to modern illnesses. And lastly, he has just lost everyone he has ever known and loved, except Merlin, and ended up in some wacky century with cars, televisions, phones, and whole lot more crazy stuff he doesn't understand. He is traumatized. He is ill. And finally, he is just trying to get his sea-legs or land-legs or whatever-wanna-call-thems back. His loss of weight is probably due to his vomiting, his body requiring more energy to fight his illness and prevent other illnesses, because he has pretty much no immunity, and there's probably something about coming back from the dead that requires you to look a bit like a skeleton, don't ask me why it's just like that in literature. So know I have written an extremely long AN which I will guess most of you skipped or only skimmed since that's what I usually do and I have not had breakfast. A bid you all fair well for now and I hope to hear from you soon. :D)


	21. Chapter 21

We do not stop once we start driving. This time we are fully prepared with a completely full cooler, a full tank of gas, and pillows to make sleeping in the backseat more comfortable. Merlin and I take turns driving and sleeping.

We are headed to a cave, a real cave, which is in, of course, the middle of nowhere. It seems to me like nowhere is wherever we go, and we are always in the middle. After two days of pretty much constant driving, Merlin slows down as we go under the shadows of ancient trees. They are as tall as giants, some are strong as boulders and others are frail as glass. I recognize these trees … from my dream.

Arthur snores in the passenger seat so I reach in front of me and shake him. He stops snoring and rubs his eyes. "What …?" He sees where we are and goes silent.

This place has a distinct feeling, like we shouldn't be here. Like everything we do worsens the crime of our presence. We can't speak or move or we will ruin the peace which rests here. This place is not for humans. The dirt road we were on has seemed to disappear completely. We get out of the car with as little movement and sound as possible. Ahead of us lies a steep hill littered with rocks, plants, and fallen branches. I saw this in my dream too.

Merlin takes my hand, nods to Arthur, and leads us up the hill. The climb is not easy. Plants keep cutting my ankles and I wish I'd worn longer trousers. Half way up, Merlin lets go of my hand so that he can climb up a cluster of rocks. I follow after him and we both help Arthur up. We are almost to the top. My legs ache, my heart beats quickly, I am sweating like hell, my throat begs for a drink, and my ankles are bleeding.

At last we are at the top. Arthur sits down on a boulder and Merlin joins him. I find my own boulder to sit on. No one says a word. We sit there, catching our breath for a few minutes before Merlin stands and starts walking to the other side of the hill. Arthur and I follow reluctantly.

I expect that we have to go all the way downhill, but I am wrong. Merlin stops, looks at us, gives a smile and thumbs up, and jumps off the side of the hill. Arthur and I run to the edge and look for Merlin. He just disappeared, exactly as in my dream.

I look at Arthur and shrug, he shrugs back. We step back, grab each others hands, and jump.


	22. Chapter 22

(AN: This is it, this is the chapter I have been avoiding. Please don't hate me.)

We land on our feet just a few feet from the place we jumped, only now we are standing in front of a cave entrance. Merlin stands in front of it, staring into it.

"Arthur. Go check it out." He throws Arthur a torch.

Arthur gives me a questioning look, something like 'Should I leave you with him?' I don't know how much Arthur knows about what happened earlier and it's bothering me a bit. I nod and he goes into the cave.

Merlin does not look at me. "You could always leave." There is silence.

"What?"

"You don't have to come with us. You're a young ambitious girl with people who care about you. You could get back in touch with Wayne, go to university, become a beautician … I won't stop you. You can just forget about all this, we'll manage."

I heat up a bit with anger. "What about that destiny you always told me about? How King Arthur would someday need me? Now you're trying to tell me to get lost? Besides, I gave up on cosmetics long ago. I was too focused on pleasing you."

"Don't you understand?! This is it! I'm trying to give you a chance to escape this!" His voice is cracking a little.

"Are warlocks allergic to straight answers? You said Arthur would need me. Don't tell me there's something else you've been hiding from me."

He turns to me, tears roll down his cheeks. He whispers in a harsh voice "I've been waiting for this for eighteen years, but I can't do it. You have to trust me when I say I love you and run. This is my fault. I don't want this for you. Please go!"

"What is it?! What am I supposed to do?!"

"I suspect you've already seen it. Look around, Lila. Don't you recognize it?"

_My dream. _

Arthur's voice echoes back to us through the cave, "You guys might wanna see this!"

I run into the cave and follow Arthur's voice. I hear Merlin behind me. We find Arthur standing in front of the pool. Glowing yellow and white crystals hang in clusters on the ceiling, giving light. Across the pool are two tunnels. I recognize it. We stand there for a few minutes. _I'm going to die. _We hear the sound of falling rocks behind us. The sound moves from left to right all around the cave.

Arthur whispers "Merlin?"

Merlin steps toward the pool as the sound stops. He looks behind his shoulder at me. And then I hear him in my head.

_Run. _

_No. _

_Please. _

_No one can escape their destiny. _

Merlin looks at me sadly, and turns his head back to the pool. He begins a spell, a long one. As he speaks his voice gets louder and the cave shakes. Dust falls from the ceiling and a single yellow crystal falls to the center of the lake. Merlin stops and the cave goes still.

"What did that do?" asks Arthur, completely oblivious to the fact that I am about to die.

Merlin walks toward Arthur, pats his shoulder, and grabs his arms to restrain him. "Go."

I look out at the pool. I can hear it. _Lila. Lila. Lila. Lila. Lila. _I walk into the water.

My life has been lived in arrogance of Merlin's knowledge. He watched my parents die and withheld all help. He knew what I would do and took me before anyone else could. He did not learn my name, he gave me a new one. He raised me like a servant, to love and care for him. He taught me how to use magic and to conceal it. He taught me that someday I would do something wonderful for King Arthur. I believed that I would help build a new world, where druids would no longer live in fear and everyone would be judged fairly. Perhaps by doing this I am helping build that world, but I will never see or be a part of it. Funny, I have been preparing my whole life for my destiny, and my destiny is death. I am one of those characters from the original Star Trek show. I'm the nameless character who nobody knows, who dies almost as soon as the episode begins. Centuries from now when the new story of King Arthur is being told, people will remember I died, but they won't care about my name or who I was or that I had bright pink hair and ugly bite mark scars on my neck. I was so upset about those scars, now it doesn't even matter. I am just a nameless Star Trek character. Maybe I am sacrificing myself for a brave and noble purpose, but no one will care. No one will remember me. The people who do care about me won't even know I died. Wayne will still think I just disappeared into thin air, he will never know about my magic. And Arthur and Merlin will continue being heroes. Merlin did something horrible, but no one can escape their destiny, he told me that long ago. He has willingly led me to my death, but I've had a great life. He is not the selfless hero I had believed him to be, but I love him still.

I am at the center. I look back at Arthur and Merlin. I see the two of them yelling and fighting each other. I make eye contact with Merlin for a moment. I go into his mind and say one last thing to him, _Thank you. _

It pulls me under. I am not drowning. My heart and mind are burning like fire.

_Oh my God. No. No! Help! Oh my God, help! _The pain is overwhelming, my vision goes white. _I can't … I can't … Help! _In desperation I call out for the last thing which might be able to save me.

_MERLIN!_

(AN: It was necessary for the story. I promise I will redeem myself later, for now I hope I haven't just ruined this story for you. Thank you for reading.)


	23. Chapter 23

Merlin heard Lila's thoughts in the water. It killed him inside.

Arthur ran towards the water. "LILA!"

The water rushed to the place where Lila once stood and drained.

Arthur ran into the dry pool. "LILA! LILA!"

Merlin walked towards him and wiped the tears from his eyes. He couldn't think about Lila, they had come there for a reason. "Come on."

"YOU!" Arthur jumped on Merlin and pinned him down to the ground. "You let her go! Why did you let her go?! Why?!"

"Do you think it was easy?! Sending her in here like this?! I have lost so much more than you! You can never understand what it's like to watch her grow up knowing that someday you will lead her to her death! You can never know what I've had to …"

"Then why?!"

"BECAUSE I HAD TO! No one can escape their destiny … no matter how great … If I hadn't … This was always meant to be."

Arthur looked at the miserable warlock. This couldn't be the annoying servant boy he had once known. No. Merlin could never have done that. But this was not the Merlin he had known. Merlin had lost just as much as Arthur and more. He had to live to see everyone he knew die slowly, and as he met new people, they died as well. All those years, he had had no one to stay with him. All of those years devoted to the cause of bringing back Arthur and restoring Albion had changed him. He had seen Lila's life as a lost cause, and had therefore used it without any right to it. The Merlin Arthur had known had been through too much, lived too long, tried too hard. But in truth, this was not the Merlin that had let two of his own kind be murdered in front of him so he could steal a child. The de-aging spell had changed him in more ways than expected. He remembered the love and mercy he had once been so full of, when he was at Arthur's side in Camelot. But Arthur had no proof of that.

Arthur clenched his teeth as tears fell from his cheeks, "I should have shot you."

Merlin whispered "I wish you had."

Arthur reluctantly looked away from Merlin and stared at the tunnel directly in front of him. He could hear it. _Arthur. Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot. The Once and Future King. _The same words were repeated and they hypnotized the young king. He got up and started to walk towards the tunnel.

"Arthur? Arthur, where are you …? No. Arthur! Don't listen to it! Resist!" He yelled a spell.

Arthur froze in mid-step. Merlin turned his eyes and for a moment glanced at the other tunnel. He couldn't look away. _Merlin. Emrys. Merlin. Emrys. _He was so tempted to walk towards it. He tensed up, forcing his legs to stay still. He knew that if he took one step towards it he wouldn't be able to stop himself. He looked between the two tunnels.

_One of these is the right the tunnel. _Merlin thought. _The other will trap us for all eternity. _

Without moving his legs, he looked behind him at the way they had come. The entrance was completely barricaded with rock. He would not be able to move the rock because it was an after effect of his own spell and also they were in a sacred, magical place. He looked between the two tunnels. He could still hear the tunnel, calling to him. Both he and Arthur had been tempted to walk into different tunnels, so both had to be traps … Right? But if they were both traps, where were they supposed to go?

Merlin tried something different. He began an incantation. "_Two paths lie ahead, neither is the way, both will lead us to destruction, help us find the right way._" He had to repeat the incantation a few times before it started working. It is usual like that when a spell is being created.

A third tunnel became visible to the left. Merlin unfroze Arthur and used magic to turn him to the left. "Walk towards that tunnel and do not look anywhere else."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because the other two are deadly traps."

"Why should I trust you?!"

"Oh for God's sake!" Merlin used magic to force Arthur into the tunnel.

Merlin was still unable to move his legs away from the tunnel. He said a spell. Rocks from the ceiling fell in front of the two tunnels, blocking the entrances. Merlin walked towards the good tunnel.

"Come on."

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you! You let her die just like that. She was a good kid, she shouldn't have died."

"I know. Now don't let her death be in vain. She died so that we could come here. We're going to find out what's happening and stop it. If you want to make her sacrifice worthless, go ahead, but I loved her too much for that." Merlin grabbed the torch from Arthur and walked ahead.

They walked on in silence down the narrow tunnel. Ancient drawings and inscriptions were still visible on the walls. Merlin stopped to look at one and translated "You venture together in hate, to discover your doom. She is not lost."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Merlin considered ... no, it was impossible. "I've got no idea. Come on."

They continued on. At last they came to a carved stairway downwards. Merlin led the way down. After a long series of stairs and curves and new paths they walked back onto the dry pool they had started at. They hardly noticed they had just gone in a circle because they were too focused on the woman in the center of the dry pool.

"Really? This is the best you could do?"


	24. Chapter 24

In the center of the dry pool stood a woman with an extremely familiar face and bright pink hair. "Lila?!"

"Hmm. So that was the name of this wretched thing. I think I will change it a bit. How about … Leila? It means night in the Arabic tongue. Very poetic, don't you think?"

Arthur took a step toward her, but Merlin grabbed his arm. "It's not her. That's not right. It can't be …"

"You're right, I'm not her. Really I would think you would have figured it out, Emrys. You are supposed to be the oldest and most powerful of your kind, yes? Or have your gods failed you again?"

Merlin clenched his teeth. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I have told you, I am Leila now. And I have come to tell you all you wish to know. But I honestly don' believe you deserve it … considering this horrible excuse of a sacrifice! Look at it! A weak female, scarred with the marks of two Homo Nosferatu Vampiris, a permanent symbol on its hip, and bubble gum growing out of its scalp! It's pathetic! How am I supposed to keep my dignity if I have to walk around in this thing?!" Leila crossed her arms and waited for a response.

Merlin asked "Permanent symbol on her hip?"

Leila pulled up her shirt to reveal a dark blue Druid symbol tattoo on her hip. There was a pause.

"I didn't know about that."

Leila pulled her shirt back down. "Well it's hideous. This body is severely flawed and I therefore promise to give you one half of the information you wish. I'm not technically breaking any rules that way."

Merlin felt hot anger grow inside himself. How could this thing in front of them be judging Lila? What gave it the right? Lila was the best sacrifice anyone could give. "She may have had a tattoo and scars, but she sacrificed herself willingly! Her heart was pure and true!"

Leila thought for a moment. "Fine. Three-fifths."

"That isn't fair!"

"I never said I was fair. Now what do you wish to know? Think before you speak."

Merlin didn't know what to do, this couldn't be right. The spell should have summoned the god of knowledge, this thing was no god. Why hadn't it worked, and what was this thing which had come in its place? "Why are boats and planes going missing?"

"We wish to scare the humans."

"Who are 'we'?"

"I and my brothers."

Merlin was severely annoyed by her unhelpful responses."Where do you and your brothers come from?"

"Taerlah."

"What is Taerlah?"

"It is my home."

Merlin made out a frustrated noise. "Where is Taerlah?"

"Among your stars."

Aliens? they were being invaded by aliens? "Why do you wish to scare us?"

"Humans are flawed. You panic."

"What is your reason to attack us?"

"You are imperfect, murderous, lying people, and you are a blemish on the face of our universe."

"What makes this your universe?"

Leila smiled. "Your gods have failed. We grow more powerful than them. They are dying and we have come to replace them. You have one question left, Emrys."

Merlin thought quickly to find the most important question he had. "How do we stop you and your brothers?"

Leila stopped smiling. "If you make me answer that … it will be the last thing you ever do. I will find and destroy you and the king. You will be dust on this floor and I will burn this world."

"Not if I know how to stop you."

Leila stared at the warlock in hatred. "I swear, Emrys, you will regret this. I will kill you slowly. I will make you watch as I rip apart the king you have so long waited for. I will make you taste his blood. I will choke you with your own tears. I will make music out of your screams and take your clever tongue with me as a souvenir. Ask a different question."

He felt a bit nauseous at the thought of watching Arthur die painfully, but he pushed it aside and pressed for an answer. "You cannot leave or harm anyone until you have answered my question. By the ancient laws you are still bound to your promise. How do we stop you and your brothers?"

There was silence for a long time. Leila smiled and began to laugh. She spat the word as if it were some kind of insult.

"Love!"

She smiled as she spoke an alien language and her whole body seemed to evaporate into nothing.

(AN: Hello. I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I know I'm not the best writer and my characters aren't the best characters to ever exist or anywhere close to it, but i was expecting some sort of reaction to the fact that I have murdered my narrator. If I had thought Lila wasn't that good and no one would care when she died, I would have killed her off a lot sooner. I just kind of started making unnecessary stuff up to avoid writing the chapter of her death, I could have saved a lot of trouble by just rushing into her death, oh well. I suspect that this chapter was a bit confusing so I will try and explain some of it for you. The spell and sacrifice was supposed to summon the ancient god of knowledge, but, as said by Leila, the gods are dying. Because the gods are dying, these aliens have stepped up and basically declared that they are the new gods and they will destroy Earth. Thanks for reading! :D)


	25. Chapter 25

After the cave entrance mysteriously cleared Arthur and Merlin left. Merlin started walking uphill, assuming Arthur would follow.

He looked back, "Are you not coming?"

"I don't see why I should. You let Lila sacrifice herself to … to whatever that was, we've just been told that the world is going to be destroyed and we have to stop it with love! You have done nothing … but lie and keep secrets and use other people for your own needs! So no, Merlin, I don't think I'm going anywhere with you! In fact, if I was still king, I would have you in prison! I've lost everything! I lost everyone! I don't understand this world! I'm not a part of it! And just as I'm starting to feel as if I belong somewhere … as if I've still got something to live for … you let her die! And I learn that you … you, who I trusted to get me through this … have been lying through your teeth! And now … you just want me to hop in your car and sing along to the radio as we take off for some fun adventure! I don't know you anymore! Stay away from me!" Arthur turned around and started walking down the hill in the opposite direction.

"What about your destiny?!"

"Screw destiny!"

"What about the people who are going to suffer if you walk away from this?!"

Arthur turned towards Merlin and looked up at him. "I'm not running away from this, I'm running away from you."

Merlin ran after him. "Arthur, neither of us can do this alone! We are each one side of a coin! If you try to escape me, you will cause nothing but destruction! You can't escape your destiny!"

"Yeah. That's what you said about Lila. Is that how you handle the guilt?! Hmm?! By telling yourself it was 'meant to happen'? I don't give a damn about destiny! I give a damn about the fact that a sick, old man let a bright, young girl die, because he was convinced it was 'destiny'! You're always talking about it! Even back in Camelot! Do you know everyone's destiny? Do you really think it's something you can't stop? Or have you ever realized that you could have prevented Lila's death? How hard is it for you to accept that her death is _Your Fault_?!"

Merlin punched Arthur. Arthur punched back. The two of them hit and kicked each other and tried to get at each other's throats, until at last they stopped from the pain their fighting had caused, exhaustion, and the ache of losing someone important.

They collapsed on the side of the hill looking at the stars. The stars burnt cold that night, like they had hardened and lost their majesty, now there was only cold, heartless beauty in them.

"I did love her, and I didn't want her to die. I gave her a chance to go, but she wouldn't. I could hear her … in my head … screaming. It was painful for her. She called for me and I just had to stand there … watching." The night was spent in tears and dreams of a little girl growing up to adore her trusted guardian. It was a long night.

When Merlin woke up, Arthur was sitting on a nearby boulder eating something. Merlin got up and joined him. Arthur silently handed Merlin an egg and watercress sandwich. Merlin took it and stared at it.

"You're still crying."

"You're still here."

Arthur took another bite of his sandwich. "You have food, and a car. And you've just lost someone very dear to you."

Merlin slowly unwrapped his sandwich and looked at it.

"It's not poisonous."Arthur said.

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten since yesterday's lunch, you're starving."

Merlin slowly took a bite. He chewed slowly and swallowed. He whispered "Thank you."

"What? I haven't done anything."

"You're here." They finished their sandwiches silently.

In twenty minutes they were in the car driving back the way they'd come. Merlin took the more scenic route and went slowly so he could take everything in. He had to remember every detail of his life from now on; he had to remember everything Lila would miss.

Arthur spoke, "So, we're being invaded by aliens and we're going to stop them with love. What do we do now?"

"We have to find them. Learn where they're going to strike next. They've slowly been weakening the human race, now we have to strengthen it. We have to make people, important people, aware of the dangers. We have to be leaders. This is what you were brought back for. We'll have to start small, if we go right in telling the government we're being attacked by aliens they'll just think we're nut-heads. We have to prove we're telling the truth."

"Alright, where do we start?"

"Fleetsville."

In Fleetsville there was one hotel, which Merlin and Arthur had already been to, and there was a small, not nearly as nice, inn in a worse part of town. They went to the inn this time. They were given a dimly lit room on the first floor, with stained grayish carpets and peeling blue and white wallpaper. The two beds were creaky and lumpy. The vent was usually not working, but would every once in a while start blowing air making the sounds of a cow being tortured. There was no telly and the closet was tiny. Opposite the two beds was a small wooden desk with two drawers and a small lamp.

Arthur had at first been very opposed to the idea of sharing a room, but had decided there were worse things. Merlin was unhappy that there was no television so he wouldn't be able to follow events as well.

Merlin left the room while Arthur showered to go to a supplies shop a few blocks away. As he walked down the dimly lit streets people watched him and tried to lure him away from the street. He saw an old man surrounded by men in hoodies. Merlin said a spell and all the men started walking away from the old man as if he was never there. Merlin kept walking.

At the supply shop, he purchased a blank notebook and a package of pens. He tried to get some gum but found that he did not have enough money. As he walked back to the inn, he realized that was going to be a problem. He had been living off retirement, but he hadn't gotten a check since he had de-aged himself. He needed money.


	26. Chapter 26

The next morning, Merlin and Arthur ate shortbread biscuits and apples for breakfast. Merlin threw an apple core into the rubbish bin. "So … Arthur, what can you do?"

"I can do a lot of things. Why?"

Merlin paused. "We need money."

Arthur looked at him and sighed. "Um okay, how do we get money?"

"We probably have to get jobs."

"Like work?"

"Yeah, like work. We need money to do this and that means work."

Arthur sighed, not liking the idea of working. "Where do we get jobs?"

Merlin took a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to Arthur. "We have to clean?"

"It's good money."

"We have to clean! I, Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, creator of the Knights of the Round Table, the Once and Future King, have to clean for a living now?!"

"Why not? I, Merlin, Emrys, most powerful sorcerer to ever live, used to do it for you."

Arthur sighed and put his head in his hands. "This is pitiful."

"You can pity yourself later, we have to get to work. Come on!"

They started immediately. There was no short supply of work to be done at the Fleetsville Primary School. Arthur and Merlin worked from seven till four o'clock cleaning the school. In the mornings they mopped the floors, before lunch they worked on the bathrooms and any extra things needed to be done, their lunch break was at the same time as the children's, after lunch they cleaned the cafeteria, afterwards they vacuumed carpeted areas and cleaned hallways, and after school ended they washed the blackboards.

Arthur had a very difficult time with many of these jobs and was happy to have Merlin cheat with magic and lessen the workload. When they were not working, Merlin was always at the desk writing things down in the notebook he had purchased.

Arthur often asked what he was writing and Merlin always answered "We need to spread the word on the invasion in a way people will believe."

"And how is writing things down in a notebook which only you see going to help spread the word?"

Merlin would roll his eyes, "I'm writing a pamphlet."

Merlin's pamphlet was done after two weeks. He and Arthur went to work and after they left they went to the local news press. Merlin carefully ripped the pamphlet pages out of his notebook and said a spell. The pages transformed into a well-designed, official-looking pamphlet.

Merlin went up to the front desk with Arthur behind him. Behind the desk sat a middle aged black woman with dark brown glasses. For a minute she ignored Arthur and Merlin as she typed very quickly on her keyboard. The news press was painted white and had framed pictures and newspaper pages hanging on the walls. Arthur read one of the framed newspapers as they waited. The woman typed a few more words into her computer and then turned her attention to the two young men in front of her.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Colin Morgan. Mr. Ackens should be expecting me."

The woman looked at Mr. Ackens scheduled appointments. Merlin silently used his magic. The woman found an appointment for a Mr. Morgan at five.

"His office is down that hallway and the first to the right." Merlin thanked the woman.

As they walked down the hallway Arthur whispered "Colin Morgan?"

"Well I can't exactly go around telling everyone my name is Merlin."

They found Mr. Ackens office and walked in. A tall and thin man with grey hair and a matching beard sat behind the grey desk. The walls in here were decorated with similar pictures and newspapers and the desk had small framed pictures of three little girls. Mr. Ackens watched Arthur and Merlin sit down in the plush chairs in front of his desk. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Morgan. Colin Morgan. We spoke over the phone a few days ago and you told me to come round your office today at five, remember?"

"I'm sorry, I don't remember …"

"The secretary in front said you had given me an appointment."

Mr. Ackens woke up his computer and checked his schedule. He saw that an appointment with a Mr. Morgan had been set up for that day and time. "I'm sorry, Mr. Morgan, I must have forgotten. It's very nice to meet you in person."

He stood up and shook hands with Merlin. He held out his hand to shake Arthur's "Billy Ackens."

Arthur opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Merlin, "This is Bradley James, he takes photographs for my works." Arthur shook hands with Mr. Ackens.

They all sat down. "So, Mr. Morgan, I am getting old now and I'm afraid I've quite forgotten what we were discussing earlier."

"I have written a pamphlet on the current disasters occurring and their relationship with a very popular legend. The legend of King Arthur."

"King Arthur?"

"Yes, I write about the similarities with various prophecies, what these prophecies say will happen next, and about the possibilities of the return of the Once and Future King. I think your readers would find it very interesting."

"Hmm. Tell me a bit about these similarities and what-not."

Arthur listened intently as he was not really sure about what was going to happen.

"It is said that the Once and Future King will return in Britain's darkest hour and take his place on the throne. In the darkest hour, strangers will come with fire and burn the seas, they will crumble mountains, flood deserts, and poison the air. We have already seen some horrible disasters happening, including a flood in the Sechura Desert. King Arthur is supposed to save the world."

Merlin handed Mr. Ackens his pamphlet and Mr. Ackens looked through it. "I used to read a series of books about King Arthur when I was growing up. I used to want to be a Knight of the Round Table." He chuckled and continued, "I would most certainly like to publish your pamphlet, Mr. Morgan. Could I keep this copy to show my colleagues?"

"Of course."

"Thank you very much for coming to see me about this, Mr. Morgan, Mr. James. I will contact you soon."

Arthur and Merlin left the news press. "Bradley James?!"

"Well I couldn't have you telling him you're Arthur Pendragon! We can't use our names in this world, no one will take us seriously. So you have to be Bradley."

All the way back to the inn Arthur complained about his new name, "What kind of a name is Bradley? It sounds like some sort of furniture company. Bradley James. Why Bradley James?"

(AN: Hello all. This is a reply to whatswiththemustache's comment about Lila's reaction to finding out about Merlin and her parents. I would like to point out that in the tv series, Arthur had a similar reaction to learning that Uther practically handed over his mother's life for him. I personally think that Lila's reaction was of course rash and not very well thought out, but this is just about the last thing she ever expected to hear from Merlin. If he had simply asked her to give her life for him, she would have demanded a reason but would have still done it because she trusted and loved Merlin, but after learning that he just watched her parents get killed, she felt betrayed and confused. And it wasn't as if Merlin was helpless, he is the most powerful sorcerer after all, he just chose to not do anything. In Lila's eyes, Merlin might as well have been the one to kill them. And I believe there is hidden emotional trauma in every orphan, I don't personally know because both my parents are alive and well, but in every story, both true and fictional, the orphan always has distinct feelings towards the parents they never knew. By letting Lila's parents die, he took away a whole life she will never know, and she has always wondered about her parents, it's where she comes from. How could she be calm after learning the man she considers her father took away the people who she will never know but always love? Just something to think about. Thanks for reading! :D)


	27. Chapter 27

Merlin had a hauntingly familiar dream, which for the first time was more of a memory. He was with Arthur and Lila in the car. They drove under the shadows of ancient trees to a steep hill. They climbed the hill and jumped off the other side. They were in a cave. He starts fighting with Arthur and he tells Lila to go. She walks into the center of the pool, turns back, and says to Merlin in his head _Thank you. _She is pulled under and she starts screaming in his head_,Oh my God. No. No! Help! Oh my God, help! I can't … I can't … Help!_ _MERLIN! _

Merlin woke up. He got up and paced the room. He looked over at Arthur's empty bed. Arthur came out of the bathroom, puffy from crying. "You too?" he asked.

A few silent tears fell from Merlin's eyes. "I always knew I'd have to do it. I didn't think it would be so hard. I didn't think it would be like this."

Arthur nodded his head. "Would you tell me about them? About Gwen and Leon and Percival and the rest of them, please?"

Arthur and Merlin sat down on the floor leaning against their beds. "Gwen ruled Camelot for forty-eight years. She was fair and merciful. Seven years after you died, she remarried. Brishen he was a wealthy trader and a good man, you would have liked him. They had two children, princess Fleta and prince Arthur, I was their godfather."

"Tell me about the children."

"Fleta had a wild spirit. She insisted on the same education as her brother and often tried to have me teach her magic." Merlin laughed. "She could never get it right though, but God she tried. She married King Roldan of Caerleon. Arthur was shy and enjoyed horses immensely. He wasn't a warrior like you or any of the Pendragons, but he had a pure heart and ruled with mercy and made peace with many of your enemies. History mixes the two of you up very often. I helped him out with a quest to find the Holy Grail and everyone believes it was you I helped. He married a lovely young peasant woman named Letha. Their dynasty lasted as long as Camelot. Fleta died young from a fatal disease, but Arthur lived an exceedingly long life."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. "What about the knights?"

"Leon served Camelot for many years before settling down at an estate with his wife Hulda. It turns out Gwaine died before you did, trying to kill Morgana. Percival had a wife and a son before he died in battle, ten years after your death. Gaius died of old age. I don't think there's anyone else to mention."

Arthur stared out the window onto the street for a long time. Merlin eventually went back to bed, leaving Arthur alone.

He didn't know if maybe it would've been better not to ask. Guinevere had remarried, had children, and grown old without Arthur. Of course he was happy that she had kept living and had not died alone, but he couldn't imagine someone else being with Gwen, her raising children which were not his. He'd never had children; he had always thought that someday he and Gwen would be raising children together. She had named her son after him. What was that supposed to mean? It's not like the child was his in anyway. Arthur was not his son. He wished Arthur and Fleta had been his children, he envied their father. He wanted to feel some kind of connection to Gwen's children, but they were not his and they were long dead. He would never get to know the spirited girl who wanted to know magic or the shy boy who loved horses and found a holy grail. These children were not his. Never had been and never would be. He would never even get to see their faces, he would never see Guinevere's face again.

He had to remember, for her memory and his own sanity. He felt the need to remember every detail Gwen would miss. See everything Gwen would never see and learn everything she would never know. He owed it to her to remember every color and emotion, because she wouldn't.


	28. Chapter 28

_The Once and Future King _pamphlets were all over Fleetsville. They were on buses, at doctors' offices, newsstands, small businesses, super markets, the pamphlets were everywhere. Everyone was talking about it, some fascinated by it and others claiming it was making everything up.

On the first day of November, Arthur and Merlin turned in their letters of resignation, packed the car, and left Fleetsville.

In the past month, terrorist activity had been growing. No organizations were claiming responsibility for the terrorist events, but they were happening frequently all over the world. Suicide rates were going up, and the mixture of terrorism and natural disasters were causing mass hysteria in many places.

Merlin and Arthur drove for York, where a bomb had very recently killed five people and closed down many tourist attractions. They worked at a coffee shop full time and had their pamphlets distributed locally. _The Once and Future King _immediately became popular, just as in Fleetsville. They stayed for almost month before moving on to Herrington.

Arthur and Merlin walked up the last flight of stairs to floor five carrying their bags. When they got to their room, the two of them crashed on their beds. They did not change clothes or take showers, but simply fell asleep from exhaustion. They both woke up at eight A.M. to the sound of a couple yelling a few doors down.

Arthur sat up and rubbed his eyes. Their room was painted green and decorated with photographs of sunsets. The television was right in front of the two beds on a big wooden dresser. The closet was the first door on the left coming into the room and the bathroom was first door on the right.

Arthur sat in bed watching the telly while Merlin showered. The people on the news were talking about the giant earthquake in Rome and the damage it had caused. Merlin came out of the bathroom fully dressed and his hair still dripping a bit. "Anything happening?"

"Giant earthquake in Rome causes damage to the Coliseum. Remind me, Rome is in Israel?"

"No, you're thinking of Jerusalem again. Rome's in Italy."

"Right. So what's the plan?" "

Um, well obviously we need to get the pamphlet published. I haven't actually been able to find any work yet …"

"Thank God!"

"Fine, if you want to live in the car."

"Well obviously not, but I would love a week or two of no work if it's not too much to ask."

"Oh well now you see how it feels! Can you imagine if I'd said that to you?"

"Okay, so what's the rest of the plan?"

Merlin sat down on the bed. "We're going to try and get it published in the London Times. If it gets published there people from all over Britain will see it! The sooner this goes national the better."

"Okay. Publish pamphlet, get enough money from it to quite working, and then what? Anything new on our friends from Taerlah?"

"No, but I've been thinking, it's December now and Christmas is on its way. If I was going to invade a planet, I'd say that would be the time to do it. Everyone would be off-guard and there are so many popular events that attract large crowds. Think of all the people that could get hurt."

"I'm guessing Christmas is a popular holiday?"

"Probably the most celebrated in the world."

"Alright, how do we protect people?"

Merlin looked a little uncomfortable. "Um, I've been thinking … there's a ritual."

"What kind of ritual?"

Merlin folded his hands. "It's dangerous."

"I would think you'd be able to manage it."

"It requires two."

Merlin and Arthur looked at each other for a while.

"Okay."


	29. Chapter 29

A young woman walked down the streets of Boston. She wore a tight, plain black dress, a black scarf, and matching black heels. Her dark brown roots were clearly visible above her bright pink hair. She walked quickly with a sense of purpose towards a large office building. When coming through the doors she took out her card from her purse to show the man at the front desk and went to the elevator. She went to the third floor and found room one-two-six. She opened the door to the conference room. Inside a dozen people sat around a plastic oval table.

The woman sat down at the table between a heavy blond man and a teenaged girl with her bare feet on the table. The woman rolled her eyes. "Would you please put your feet off the table, Olivia?"

Olivia glared at the woman. "You're not the boss of me, Leila."

"You were always an inconsiderate brat, but being inside that adolescent has made you even less tolerable."

"It's not as if your vessel is much older. And what about that hair? At least mine had the sense to keep hers natural."

"I didn't really get to choose it, I was summoned and it sacrificed itself."

"Some sacrifice."

The room fell silent as a tall woman entered the room. She wore a red sundress and a broad-brimmed white hat. Her skin was tan and smooth, she had light brunette hair pulled back in a bun and her red lips smiled.

Leila stood up. "Rosalie."

She looked at Leila and they made their way to each other. "Leila, I have missed you so much."

The two of them kissed, something neither of them had ever had the chance to do since they had taken on their new bodies. Leila made her way back to her seat as Rosalie sat in the last chair at the end of the table. She cleared her throat. "Shall we begin?"

Thirty minutes into the meeting they came to an agreement, it was time to strike. "But where are we supposed to do it? And how? So far we've only been scaring the termites, what now?"

Leila spoke up, "The humans have these 'atomic nuclear bombs', which are extremely harmful to nearly all life on Earth. Countries which possess these bombs would be very hesitant to use them. However, if we launched a plan which would severely hurt one or more of these countries and could be blamed on another country or countries which also possessed these bombs, we could start a third 'World War'. Nuclear war would surely dispose of many humans, leaving the rest to our own devises."

The others considered this. The heavy blond man next to Leila argued "How long would that take? We've already been here for seven Earth months, how much longer do we have to wait on this forsaken planet?"

Rosalie interrupted, "As long as it takes, Pierre. You need to learn patience; your kind of rushed thinking will lead us nowhere. Your plan is well thought out, Leila, but I think we have waited in the shadows long enough. I wish my enemies to hear of our presence and fear for their lives. It is time they know who the new gods are."

A muscly dark haired man in a tweed jacket spoke, "It's almost Christmas, the humans will have various celebrations all over the world, which draw in large crowds. We could strike in the big cities, like New York and Singapore. I think starting off on a holiday about their 'savior' would be ironic."

"I'd say that's a good start. I want more. I leave Pierre in charge of contacting our brothers, Olivia is in charge of supplying the things we need for the attacks, Calvin you can choose which cities to target, and Leila, I want you to plan the attacks. I am giving you my utmost trust because you deserve it. I'll see you tonight." Rosalie stood and left the room swiftly, giving Leila a wink as she passed.

The room was silent for a moment before it became lively with whispers of gossip. Leila stood and walked out the door. Olivia muttered, "Whore."


	30. Chapter 30

Arthur and Merlin walked out of the London Times office building with smiles on their faces. Arthur held the envelope with all the money in his hands. He happily whispered "One thousand pounds."

Merlin smiled and whispered "Publishing across all of Britain."

"No more full time jobs."

"What the heck are you talking about? One thousand pounds won't last us _that _long."

Arthur frowned. "Well, I thought we'd at least be able to take part time …"

"No."

Arthur sulked. "Then what's the point of having one thousand pounds?"

"It's just if we need it, you know? Like if the car gets wrecked or something."

They walked through the streets of Herrington and to the little place they were renting. It was a small old, red two story house with a basement. There was a middle aged man named Fred living on the top floor. He was a recovering alcoholic who had just gone through a nasty divorce and looking for a job as a mechanic. Two people lived on the ground floor, a young American women named Catherine, who worked two jobs trying to save up to go back to college, and a woman named Jenny, who was only planning to stay for a month to help her sister after her child's death.

Arthur and Merlin lived in the basement. The basement had mold growing on the walls and the white and black patterned wallpaper was peeling off. The grey floor was always cold and the water-heater made horrible noises, like the sounds of a donkey choking on smoke and nails across a chalkboard. There was one small bathroom down there, a room with a large pullout bed, couch, and a television, and a small room with a fridge, microwave, sink, washer, and clothes lines hanging from the ceiling.

To get to the basement, they first had to go through Catherine's section of the house, so they saw her often. She was a smart, determined girl who was truthful and not always kind. She had yellow-blonde hair, dark brown eyes, and dimples when she smiled. She had been planning to go for her senior year of college before a disastrous hurricane had wrecked her parents' home and destroyed the family restaurant business. Now she worked during the day at a pet shop and in the evening as a waitress for a popular diner. She was working, so Arthur and Merlin didn't see Catherine when they came home from the London Times.

They spoke as they went down the stairs to their home, "Speaking of work, I've found some. The Lace needs dishwashers."

"The Lace?"

Merlin blushed. "It's, um … it's a … a gentlemen's club."

Arthur saw Merlin blushing. "What exactly is a 'gentlemen's club'?"

"It's a place … where, um, people watch, um … women … _undress._"

Arthur gave a look of total astonishment and disgust. "What?!"

"Yeah …"

Arthur was at a total loss for words. "That is … that is … What kind of person would … AND WE'RE GOING TO WORK THERE?!"

Merlin looked truly embarrassed. "It was all I could find …"

"I HAVE CLEANED LIKE A SERVANT, SHARED A ROOM, TRAVELED FOR HOURS IN A CAR, I HAVE PUT UP WITH FAR MORE THAN I COULD EVER HAVE IMAGINED, BUT I WILL NOT WORK AT ANY 'GENTLEMEN'S CLUB'!"

"Well why don't you ever take some responsibility and look for jobs! Ever since you came back you've done nothing but be lazy and let me do all the hard work! You're supposed to be king and now you only ever do what I tell you to! I thought it would be a blessing when you started listening to me, but now it's all you ever do! So I found us jobs and if you don't like it then find a different one, but don't start yelling at me for trying to actually do something!"

Merlin went to the kitchen/laundry room and slammed the door behind him, leaving Arthur shocked at Merlin's sudden outburst. Arthur couldn't help thinking _Lila would know what to do. Lila wouldn't yell at me for not fully understanding how this century works or what exactly Merlin wants from me. _

But another part of him was saying _He's right you know. You used to give the orders, and now you've just become a mindless soldier, always doing what you're told and nothing more. Merlin is still really upset over Lila and you put a lot of pressure on him. _

Arthur took a deep breath and opened the kitchen door. Merlin was putting clothes into the washer and didn't acknowledge Arthur when he came in.

"I'm sorry."

Merlin poured detergent in the washer. "Of course you are." He closed the washer and turned it on. The angry growling sounds of the washer burst into life. Merlin walked past Arthur into the main room.

"I really am sorry!"

"Yeah, whatever." Merlin sat on the couch and started reading a newspaper. "Arrogant dollop-head."

(AN: Hey guys! I'm just going to warn you that the story will start having more adult themes, such as gentlemen's clubs. I'm not going to publish anything graphic or too outrageous, but I am going to start hinting at more adult topics. It is rated T for a reason. Thanks for reading! :D)


	31. Chapter 31

Leila stood outside hotel room two-eight-one. She held out her hand to knock and hesitated, then she knocked. "Come in."

Leila opened the door and stepped inside. It was a very nice hotel room with a sitting area containing a television, a large bedroom, and a balcony. Rosalie sat on the bed with her back facing Leila. She still wore the red dress and white hat from earlier.

Leila entered the bedroom. "Rosalie."

Rosalie turned around and smiled when she saw Leila. "Oh Leila, how long it's been." She stood and embraced Leila. She put her hand on Leila's waist, "I so love your dress. You look very … professional." She laughed and slipped her hands down her body.

Leila smiled uncomfortably and stepped back. "I have reports for you from Calvin and Olivia."

Rosalie frowned, "Why do you pull away from me and speak of work tonight? That can wait for morning surely." Rosalie held her arms out to Leila, but she did not take them.

"I'm sorry love, it's just … so strange to be like this … in these bodies."

Rosalie frowned and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I thought that wouldn't matter to you. It doesn't matter to me. I love you just as much the way you are now as the way you were then. You're beautiful."

Leila blushed and looked down at her shoes. "No, it's not that."

Rosalie became annoyed , "Then what?!"

Leila looked up. "I love you, Rosalie, and you're beautiful … but I'm _not._"

"What are you talking about? I like the hair, really! You are … _oh._"

Leila took off the scarf around her neck, revealing the bite mark scars. Leila blushed and looked down in shame. Rosalie stood and walked towards Leila. She held Leila's face in her hands and kissed her passionately.

She embraced Leila and whispered "Put the scarf back on."

That night something strange happened. Leila couldn't see, she couldn't feel anything. It was like she was floating in darkness. She called out, "Hello? Hello?!"

An answer came from the darkness in her own voice, _Hello. _

"Who's there? Who's there?!"

She woke up with a start.

"Leila!" Rosalie held both Leila's wrists and looked at her worriedly. "What happened? It was like … it was like you were … _asleep._"

Leila breathed heavily. "I-I'm fine." She got up. "I'm just going to …"

Rosalie watched as Leila went into the bathroom. She put on a bathrobe and looked at herself in the mirror. She could still hear that voice, _her voice_, calling out to her from the darkness. She was shaking and took deep breaths to calm herself and she thought, _What happened?_


	32. Chapter 32

Arthur averted his eyes from the sight of scantily dressed women coming in and out of the kitchen carrying food and drink. He became extremely focused in trying to scrub a patch of grease off one of the plates as a woman came up to where he was washing dishes.

"Now that's what I call determination."

Arthur did not look up and did not respond.

"Excuse me."

He continued to ignore her.

"Hey dish-boy!"

He rolled his eyes, stood up straight and faced the woman. She was a beautiful young woman with chocolate brown hair with light blonde highlights, dark brown eyes, and she wore a long sparkly black dress which showed quite an amount of her chest, she was probably the most decently dressed woman there.

She smiled and leaned close to Arthur. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"No." Arthur turned his back on the woman and continued scrubbing plates.

"I'm Christina. And you are …" Arthur ignored her. "You know, it's very rude to ignore me when I'm trying to have a conversation with you."

Arthur looked over his shoulder, "I'm working."

"I'm not going anywhere until you at least tell me your name."

He rolled his eyes but gave in. He turned to face her and blankly said "Bradley. It's Bradley, now leave me alone."

She frowned. "What's the matter Bradley? Think your girlfriend won't approve?"

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"Really? Handsome guy like you? What kind of a girl would wanna miss out on you?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have work to do and you are distracting me."

She smiled. "Alright, but remember; Christina Gardens. I'll be seeing you later then, Bradley." She left the kitchen and Arthur returned to his dishes.

Merlin came up next to Arthur "Who was that?"

"Christina Gardens. She wouldn't leave me alone."

Merlin frowned, "I really wouldn't suggest getting to know these people too well."

"Yeah, I know, Merlin. I'm not stupid."

Christmas was coming quickly and Herrington was becoming animate with Christmas lights and music and shop window displays. After coming back from work one very late night, they ran into Catherine. "Hey guys. So I was wondering, my mate Annabel is having a Christmas party next Saturday, and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me, Bradley."

Arthur was really very surprised, "Um … well, uh … okay."

"Great. Remember: Saturday, seven o'clock, I'll pay for the taxi." She walked away quickly.

"Merlin, what have I just gotten myself into?"

Merlin chuckled. "Don't worry. It'll be good for you to spend some time in the world without me. It's just a Christmas party after all and it's not like you've got to marry her."

"Hold on a minute! Are you saying she thinks that me and her are …"

"That's usually what people think when they ask someone on a date and that person says yes."

Arthur blushed. "I have to tell her I've made a mistake."

"Why? It's time you've had some exposure if you ask me. Just don't get hammered and if they offer you anything that seems strange, don't take it. You'll be fine."

Arthur was still unsure. He did not want Catherine to think he liked her like that. He couldn't think of anyone like that, no one could replace Gwen, ever. But Merlin seemed to think he should go have some fun at this party, so he decided he would confront Catherine after Saturday. The week went by quickly and Saturday came.

"What should I wear?"

Merlin looked up from his newspaper. "Well don't dress like a complete bum, but don't over dress either."

"Well … what's that supposed to mean?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Just wear anything."

"But, you just said …"

"Just wear anything!"

Arthur looked through his clothes and went into the bathroom to change. He looked in the mirror and said to himself "This is stupid." He came out of the bathroom and said in a strong, determined voice "I can't go."

Merlin put down his newspaper and stood to look at Arthur. "What?"

"I can't go. I can't fit in with these people, I don't even know who they are! What's the point in pretending I'm like them when I'm not? And I don't think I'm going to have fun like you want me to. I've never even celebrated Christmas before! I don't know who 'Santa Claus' is or why you decorate and worship pine trees! I just can't go. Alright?"

Merlin sighed and sat down again. "Alright, but you have to tell Catherine."

"What do I tell her?"

"I don't know, think of something."

"But I said I'd go."

"Go! Don't go! I don't care! Just don't drag me into it!"

"I have to go, don't I?"

"You don't _have _to do anything."

Arthur groaned and headed for the stairs, "This is exactly what you wanted."

Merlin smiled to himself, "I don't know what you mean."

Catherine and Arthur were pretty quiet during the car ride. The taxi pulled over when they came to a brick house decorated with Christmas lights. Catherine paid the taxi driver as Arthur silently regretted his decision to come. The house was small, but cute, there were Christmas decorations everywhere and people talking and holding drinks. A few of them said hi to Catherine and whispered about the cute guy she had with her as they made their way to the kitchen where Catherine's friend was.

The kitchen was small and packed full of food and drinks. Off to the side a small group of people talked loudly. One of them saw Catherine and Arthur "Hey look! Catherine's brought a boy!"

They all turned to smile and laugh at them. Both of them blushed as her friends began teasing Catherine.

"Um, everyone, this is Bradley."

A tough Asian guy was first to shake Arthur's hand. "Michael. It's nice to meet you." They were welcomed into the small circle as everyone started to pelt Catherine with questions.

"So, how did you meet?"

"When did it start?"

"Yeah, I thought you were still getting over Lucas?"

The questions continued, but Arthur's attention wandered from the small circle of friends questioning Catherine and him. The night went on and Arthur mostly kept to himself after he was introduced to just about everyone there and offered at least twenty drinks. He was hanging around a corner in the living room, watching a couple dance, when he was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Fancy meeting you here, dish-boy."


	33. Chapter 33

Christina Gardens leaned against the wall next to Arthur, sipping a glass of champagne. Arthur guessed she made a habit of standing out, because she was easily the best dressed there. Her green dress puddled around her feet, a slit in the fabric made her bare right leg clearly visible. It was strapless and pushed up her breasts just a little bit. She wore dark green jewelry to contrast the bright green dress and heavy, but beautiful make up.

She looked up at Arthur. "So, what's the lonely, hard-working Bradley doing in my home?"

"Your home?"

"Well, not mine really, my sister's. She's trying to get rid of me."

"You're Annabel's sister?" The two looked nothing alike. Christina was dark and beautiful, while Annabel was blonde, pale, and plain as could be.

"Half-sister. Would you believe it if I told you she's the bastard child?"

Arthur was shocked by Christina's question. Arthur uncrossed his arms and started walking away from Christina, she followed. "I thought we'd already learned that it's rude to ignore someone? Are you ready for another lesson?"

"Leave me alone."

"Lesson number two; I don't take orders."

She followed him all around the house until they ended up in an empty hallway. Christina grabbed Arthur's wrist and pulled at it. "There's nowhere to run, Bradley. You might as well just let me talk to you."

Arthur was extremely annoyed at this point. He turned around and looked Christina straight in the eyes. "I don't know you, I don't want to know you, I don't care who you are. I don't know why you seem so interested in me, but it's really annoying. All I know is that you are a disgusting slut who won't leave me alone and if that doesn't change I will make it change. Do I make myself clear?"

Christina smiled at him and hooded her eyes. She walked towards him slowly. "That, Bradley, is exactly why you are so incredibly, enormously, deliciously interesting. It is also the reason I have become determined to push you to your limit. How long until you've got the guts to 'make it change'? I'm just dying to know."

She was very close to Arthur now and she lightly placed her hand on his chest. Arthur angrily grabbed her wrist off his chest and attempted to twist it backwards. Her delicate hand slipped between his fingers leaving them empty. She put her hands behind her back, out of Arthur's reach and slightly widened her smile. "I'll be seeing you later then, Bradley."

Arthur watched as she left the hallway and went outside. He turned around and saw one of the guys from the party, Michael, watching him. Michael silently walked back into the living room, leaving Arthur alone, fuming, in the hallway.

Arthur went back to his corner in the living room and sipped some lovely drink called eggnog. He watched the other party guests and soon realized that nearly everyone kept stealing glances at him. Why were they all doing that? He saw Catherine come into the room and was about to make her way to him when a woman caught hold of her arm and started whispering something to her. He watched as Catherine's face became a bright shade of pink and she fixed him with a murderous look. Arthur began to feel very uneasy and even a little bit scared as Catherine angrily made her way to him.

Without a word she pulled him into the empty hallway, turned on him, and slapped him hard across the face. Arthur rubbed his face and took a few deep breathes to recover from the shock. "OUCH! That hurt!"

"Good, now I'm calling a cab and then we're going to leave, clear?" Arthur wasn't able to respond before Catherine had dialed the number and gotten on the phone with a taxi service. She hung up the phone shortly. "They'll be here in five minutes."

"I-I don't understand. Why are we leaving? What did I do?"

Her murderous look reappeared on her face. "Were you really flirting with _Christina Gardens? _The prostitute?"

Arthur's face flushed with embarrassment. "I was not _flirting, _I was trying to get rid of her!"

"Well everyone else seems to think you were! Do you understand how completely _humiliating _this is?! I brought you here to get my mates off my back about getting a boyfriend, I got them all to think I'd found a nice guy who wasn't going to leave me, and then you ruin the whole thing, by talking to that stripper filth! Now they're all trying to comfort me! Thinking that stupid innocent Catherine has got herself in another heart breaking mess with another filthy bastard!"

Arthur found himself yelling back, "You're calling me a bastard?!"

"Yeah, I think I am!"

Arthur tensed with anger at the insult and total lack of respect. He most certainly was not used to this kind of treatment, but he resisted the urge to fight her and instead let her yell insults all the way back to the house. When he came down to the basement he turned on the lights and shook Merlin awake from where he was passed out on the couch.

"You are never talking me into going to any party ever again!"

(AN: I wasn't really sure about this chapter, sorry if you didn't like it.)


	34. Chapter 34

Leila walked into the conference room with Rosalie. Everyone watched them as they took their usual seats around the oval table. Rosalie gave everyone a smile. "Good morning crew. I trust you've all done what you were assigned?"

Everyone nodded and muttered "yes madam".

"Very good. Report status."

Olivia began listing all of the supplies she had been handling, when Leila felt her mind wander away from the conference and to a familiar dark place. She panicked, it was happening again. She couldn't feel her body, or see or smell anything. She was floating in nothingness, surrounded by shadows.

She screamed. "Help! Help!"

She heard the voice, her voice echoing through the darkness in a response. _Why? _

"Who are you? Where are you?"

_I am me. I am here. _

"Leave me alone!"

There was a pause and for a moment, Leila thought maybe the voice had gone away. And then she heard it again. _Why? _

"I want to wake up. Let me wake up!"

_Why? _

"BECAUSE I WANT TO WAKE UP!"

There was a long pause before the voice spoke again, this time with a sharp edge and a hint of anger. _Me, too. _

Leila struggled against the dark place's existence. She fought with every fiber of her mind to escape that place until it worked. She sat in the same seat in the same conference room with everyone staring at her. Her colleagues seemed confused and a few looked worried, especially Rosalie. Rosalie made eye contact with Leila.

"Are you alright, Leila?"

Leila stuttered, "I-I'm f-f-fine. Re-really."

"You don't seem fine." commented Olivia.

"What?"

"You're sweating."

Leila forced a shaky hand to her forehead and felt sticky water come off. _We're not supposed to sleep or dream or sweat. _She thought. _We're not supposed to be affected like this. Why am I the only one affected like this? _

She put her hand down on the table and gave reassuring smile. She said in a sure, strong voice once more, "I'm fine." The conference carried on and Leila gave her report.

Afterwards, she was the first one to leave and she left quickly. She was back at the hotel in an instant without any idea how she'd gotten there. She turned around to see herself in the mirror. She took five calming deep breaths with her eyes closed, she opened her eyes, and looked straight in the mirror.

"I am Leila, one of the many sons of Taerlah. I am here, on Earth, with my brothers, to cure the universe of the human race. I am here in this body, which previously belonged to Lila, who owned no constant surname. The gods of this world and our world have fallen. We will be the new gods. I am a god, and I am not afraid of the dark, for I will destroy the voice in the dark. When the Earth crumbles, so will magic, and we will continue our work throughout our universe. I am not afraid of the dark." She relaxed after saying all that, believing every word to be true, until six words echoed from somewhere deep in her mind from a voice both hers and not hers.

_Not if I destroy you first._

(AN: Hello all. I was reading through some of my earlier chapters and I realized that I introduced a dog named Gaius in chapter ten and then never wrote about him again. This was entirely by mistake as I had originally planned to continue writing about Gaius, but it seems that I forgot about him by mistake. I'd like to apologize for that mistake and suggest that we all assume Gaius died sometime in the three months between chapters ten and eleven. So sorry about that but I don't have the energy to insert him in all the other chapters and at this point a dog would probably only get in the way. Thanks for reading! :D)


	35. Chapter 35

Arthur slept in the next morning, tired out from the events at the party. Merlin, however, was up very early. After washing up and getting dressed, he went to the corner of the main room where many of his bags remained unpacked. Most of these bags held magical items and ingredients. He unzipped the top of the large bag he usual tied to the top of the car. He rummaged around until he found a small, white silk pouch. He took out the pouch and continued looking. He took out several plastic bags of strange bottled and bagged ingredients and a big bowl which looked a bit more like a cauldron.

He set the bowl down in the middle of an empty space and opened the silk pouch to take out twelve small candles. The candles were many different colors and had strange symbols and writing on them. Merlin had been collecting them for a long time from many different parts of the world, since finding real ones was so difficult now, of course you could find every kind of fake candle in New Orleans, but they wouldn't work for a real sorcerer. Merlin counted the candles over and over again and made sure he had all the right amounts of all the ingredients. When he was satisfied that he had everything, he went back to the big bag to search for the book. It took him quite a while to find the book and he began to worry he didn't have it. He finally said a spell and the book came flying up from the bottom of the bag and hit him in the face. "Ouch!" He picked the book up off the floor and cursed at it. He looked through the pages carefully. The book was fairly new compared to most of his magic books, it had been given to him as a gift from a pupil of his. He found the first pages explaining the directions to the ritual. He bookmarked the page and set the book in the corner along with all of the other things he had taken out.

When Arthur woke up, Merlin was running around the room grabbing things and putting them in his backpack. "Arthur, you're awake! Get ready, we have a big day ahead of us!"

Arthur flung his head back and groaned. "No."

Merlin grabbed Arthur by his arms and pulled him out of the pullout couch and onto the floor. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

"We can't be late!" Merlin threw a letter at Arthur which his him on his nose.

He picked it up, sat on the bed, and read it. "Is this really necessary?"

"Yeah, even if people read the pamphlets, they'll still need more of a push to believe it."

Arthur looked down at the letter. "What exactly are we going to say? 'I'm Arthur, this is Merlin, we're going to save the world'?"

"We'll think of something. Now hurry up!"

Arthur very reluctantly got dressed and ready. "When do we eat?"

Merlin threw a wrapped up scone at him and walked up the stairs. Arthur grumbled and ran after him. Merlin was waiting in the car and honked at him. "Come on! We've gotta go!"

Arthur got in the car and unwrapped his scone as Merlin drove away. "I think this is ridiculous."

"How else are we supposed to tell the world we're being attacked by aliens?"

"No one will believe it."

"They will come Christmas morning."

"What? What happens Christmas morning?"

"Never mind." Merlin wouldn't talk about his comment on Christmas morning so they drove in silence to the radio house. Merlin led the way inside and went to the front desk. "Hello, I'm Colin Morgan this is my partner, Bradley James, we're supposed to go live in thirty minutes."

The woman looked on her computer screen. "Sorry no, you're selection has been canceled."

Merlin widened his eyes. "What? No, I've got the letter right here." He pulled out the letter and showed it to her.

"You've been replaced by Ricky Semolt who will talk about his latest hit album. Mr. Tethers is terribly sorry for the mistake and would like to apologize by giving you each a free Radio House coffee mug from the shelf. Radio House thanks you for your support, have a nice day."

Merlin and Arthur left the radio house each with a coffee mug. "How could they just cancel like that?! It's totally unfair! I'm going to write a very long complaint!" Merlin slammed the car door behind him. "It's just so unbelievable how companies think they can toss you aside without even flipping telling you! It's like servitude all over again!"

"Oi! I'm right here you know!"

Merlin turned on the car. "Sorry."

When they got back to their basement Arthur plopped onto the pullout couch in the hopes of taking a nap, but was allowed no such nap from Merlin. "What are you doing? Just cause the radio thing got canceled doesn't mean we don't have work to do."

Arthur groaned. "Alright, what are we doing now?"

"It's almost Christmas, we're one week away. It's time to explain the ritual."

Arthur sat up. "I'm listening." He got up and followed Merlin to the corner he had pushed all the strange stuff into that morning.

Merlin started setting up the bowl and candles. "I got all this stuff out this morning and made sure we had everything. This is a bowl of pure brass and these candles were made with the rarest of magical ingredients in the most sacred places of the world."

"Yeah that's great. What is the ritual actually going to do?"

"If done correctly, it should show us where we need to go."

"Go where to do what?"

"Well in this case, I suspect the Taerlahs are going to attack and reveal themselves on Christmas, so we have to find out where they are and stop them."

"And this is going to show us where?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's get started."

"No."

"No?"

"We have to wait for Christmas eve. 'On the eve of holiness you shall find the way'. That's how it works."

"Okay, so what are we doing now?"

Merlin looked uncomfortably at Arthur. "It requires two."

"Yes you've said that. I'm willing to do whatever you need."

"It requires two sorcerers."

Arthur looked at Merlin. "You want me to … to …"

"Morgana is proof that there could be magic in your blood. Also you were born by magic. Magic is not to be feared, Arthur. I can help you manage it."

Arthur laughed nervously. "I'm not a sorcerer. I never have been."

"Everyone starts somewhere."

Arthur couldn't believe it. He had accepted that magic wasn't evil, but to think that he could do magic … it terrified him.

"You have to make a decision, I won't force you."

Arthur thought for a moment. "What will happen if I don't do this?"

"I don't know."

"What will happen if I do, do this?"

"I don't know."

"Well you're no help."

"If I'm right about this, people are going to get hurt …"

"Okay fine!" They stared at each other for a moment, and then Merlin smiled.

"I'll have to teach you the basics then. Are you ready now?"

(AN: Hello! Just apologizing for the random radio thing. it didn't turn out quite the way I'd meant it to. Oh well. Also I just have to comment on something. I've been seeing stuff all over the news about hurricane Arthur and I think it's just really kind of funny and weird because if this story were real right about now should be when all the natural disasters get bad and the first Hurricane this season has been named Arthur! I feel like Chuck/God from Supernatural. Wow, I could've just broken my own fourth wall! Thanks for reading and watch out for girls with pink hair! :D)


	36. Chapter 36

Merlin and Arthur sat across from each other on the basement floor. Merlin spoke, "Okay, now, we just need to be able to prepare you for the ritual. You don't have to learn a lot because my power should be able to compensate for whatever you lack."

"Oi!"

"Well we only have a week. Now I need you to find the magic inside of you."

"How do I do that?"

"Patience, I'm getting there! Now, you have to remember that magic is everywhere in everything. Some places have more magic than others, but magic can be found everywhere. Now take my hands." He held out his hands and Arthur rolled his eyes and held them. "Close your eyes. Now try not to think, focus only on the things you feel. Take deep breaths. Now listen."

Arthur tried to think of nothing and focus on the air on his skin. He listened, for what, he didn't know. He heard something he couldn't quite make out. It sounded both very close to him, yet far away. Someone was talking. _Arthur? Can you hear me, Arthur?_

Arthur panicked. He opened his eyes and let go of Merlin's hands. "What was that?"

Merlin sighed and rolled his eyes, "That was me, you idiot. If you hadn't lost concentration we might have been able to get somewhere with this."

Arthur felt embarrassment and fear. Could Merlin get inside his head? Could he possibly know what he was thinking? He didn't like the idea of Merlin being able to read his mind. It didn't seem fair that Merlin knew almost everything about him, but there was so much he didn't know about Merlin. He took Merlin's hands, closed his eyes, and tried again.

Teaching Arthur magic was much more difficult than Merlin had expected. The fact that Arthur could hear Merlin was proof he had magic, but teaching him to find it inside himself was just painful. Arthur really did try, but it didn't come naturally to him like it did for people like Merlin and Morgana. In his sense of magic, Arthur was more like Gaius when he had started out. Gaius had had a difficult time learning magic as a young man, and though he did eventually learn, his power was weaker than most sorcerers.

It took a few days, but Arthur started to feel something when Merlin helped him. It was like he could feel power everywhere, every molecule seemed to give off a faint kind of energy which was new to him. He felt it most coming from his friend. It was like he could suddenly feel sparks in the air, and Merlin was a wildfire. He started feeling something inside of him as well, a small flame, like a light on a candle. Merlin told him to focus on letting the flame grow and use its power. Three days away from Christmas, Arthur successfully did his first spell. He levitated a pen for a few seconds and then it fell to the floor.

Arthur stared at the pen with shock. Merlin laughed and patted Arthur's back. "You did it! You just used magic!"

Arthur smiled slowly. It felt good to use magic, like some part of him had always been waiting for it and now he knew how. He became super excited and insisted Merlin teach him more.

"Really? It's almost midnight, don't you want to sleep?"

"How can I sleep now? I just used magic! I-I have to learn more! This is so brilliant! This is bloody fantastic! I never thought magic could be so … happy."

Merlin became slightly concerned, "I'm glad you feel that way, but you shouldn't use magic just because it makes you happy. Magic is a tool, it's not a game, remember that."

"Yeah yeah I know, but let's not stop just yet. One more spell?"

(AN: I AM SO SORRY! I feel really bad that I didn't update for three days. In my defense I took a trip with my family and there's no wifi on our boat and I was just having a really good time so I didn't take the time to find a place with wifi to update. When I started publishing this story I made myself promise to update daily and even though I know most people don't I still feel kind of bad breaking that promise. As of now I am going back to daily updates and I will try and warn you if I think something like this will happen again. Thank you so much for your patience! :D)


	37. Chapter 37

_Three months ago ..._

I wake up slowly, and with a lot of difficulty. I don't want to get up, I just want to sleep, but something is nagging at me to focus. I open my eyes slowly to blurred vision. I'm in a hospital bed in an otherwise empty room. The walls, ceiling, and floor are made of identical white square tiles and I don't see any doors or windows. I rub my eyes and sit up.

I hear something. _Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up._

I look around for the sound. "Hello?"

_Hello hello hello hello._

"Where am I?"

Voice number one: _Here._

Voice number two: _In your mind._

"My mind?"

A whole ensemble of different voices answer. _Yes, Gilda. Gilda. Gilda. Gilda._

"How is that possible? I'm supposed to be dead!"

_No. No. No. No. Only asleep. Asleep. Asleep_.

"I don't understand. Who are you?"

_The gods. The gods. The gods. We're dying. We're dying. It is time, Gilda. Gilda. Gilda._

"What? Time for what? How can you be the gods? And why are you dying?"

_We are the gods of the old, old religion, the ones you have learned of, worshipped. We are old and death is now upon us. It is time for the great plan and you must do your part. Your part. Your part. Your part._

"What is 'my part'?"

_You must destroy your master. Master. Master. _

"My what?"

_Leila. Leila. Destroy Leila. Destroy Leila. Destroy Leila._

"Who's Leila?"

_The son of Taerlah, who breaths through your lungs. Your lungs. Your lungs._

I throw my hands up in exasperation. "Does everyone involved with magic refuse to speak English but me?!"

There is a pause. _We don't understand. Stand._

"Never mind! Never mind. Okay, you want me to destroy something inside of my lungs … like a parasite?"

_No. No. No. No_.

"Then what?"

There is a pause. _You became Gilda, you sacrificed yourself to Leila. Now you must destroy her._

I think for a moment, slowly realizing a horrifying truth. "I sacrificed myself … to someone called Leila … and now you want me to … destroy her? How? If you say I'm in my mind how do I kill this thing? And why are you calling me Gilda?"

_Gilda is your name, your true name. It is a reflection of who you are right now. You are the sacrifice, and so you are Gilda. It was foreseen and given to you at birth, and then lost with the death of Jethro and Keondra. She is inside of your body, inside of your brain. You are not fully awake, you cannot be until the rules break. So break the rules and gain control._

I shake my head. "Are you telling me my name … the one my parents gave me … is Gilda? And they were Jethro and Keondra? And now there is something inside of my body, that this is not my body, that I'm trapped in my brain?"

_Yes._

"But I'm in a room, an actual … room. How can this be in my head?"

_This is a temporary resting place in your brain, your visits here are called dreams._

I notice for the first time that the room is perfectly well lit, but there aren't any lights. The walls aren't glowing or anything. The light isn't coming from anywhere, nothing is giving off light, it's just here. I also notice that my hair is not pink, it is dark brown, the way it naturally would be.

"Okay, okay, okay. What do I do? And how? And do not give me a riddle! I want a clear answer without any loop holes or weird rhymey stuff."

A single voice speaks, the voice of a grown man. _Leila is a son of Taerlah. Before we made Earth, we made Taerlah, and they were perfect. We made the people similarly to the way we made your people, only we gave too much. We began to foresee their growing power and that they would one day be greater than us. So we made a new world, where the people would never reach their full potential. We gave the humans more emotions and less power. We believed that the sons of Taerlah would someday wish to destroy our creation and so we put magic here and a plan was made._

Another voice, a woman continues. _We planned the births of Arthur and Emrys and entwined their destinies. We made them to protect this world against the sons of Taerlah, and we made you to be Gilda. Your task is half completed, but you will not always be Gilda, someday you will be Andraste. You must become Andraste. You must destroy Leila._

"I don't … I can't …"

All of the voices speak in unison. _You can. You can. You can. You can. And you will. You will. You will. You will._

(AN: Did I say Lila was dead? Oops! :D)


	38. Chapter 38

Arthur worked viciously scrubbing the dishes at The Lace. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and keep working on his new magical talent. Merlin had given him a magic ring which was supposed to strengthen his powers. Merlin had told him not to, but Arthur hadn't listened to him and brought it with him to work. He was so caught up in thinking about magic, he didn't even notice when Christina Gardens came up next to him and started washing a beer glass.

"Hey dish-boy."

Arthur nearly jumped out of skin, then gave an angry grunt at seeing who it was. "What do you want?"

"I just came to help out, I thought you and the sponge could do with a therapy session, seeing as you've nearly cleaned that poor pot to death."

Arthur looked down at the pot he'd been working on and silently placed it in the dish rack. "I don't need your help, I don't want it, now go away." Arthur picked up a fork and started cleaning it.

Christina worked on a shot glass. "How about you take me out tonight? You've already seen my place, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage."

Arthur jammed the fork in the dish rack and picked up another. "What can I do to make you leave me alone?"

Christina chuckled. "I honestly don't know. I do know no one's ever gotten rid of me without taking me somewhere first."

"Well lucky me, I'll be the first."

"Don't count on it, dish-boy."

Arthur scrubbed away at a plate and meanwhile stole a glance at Christina. She wore a tight, bright red dress with large side slits and gold jewelry.

"Why do you always avoid me?"

"Why do you always follow me?"

"I asked you first."

Arthur put his plate in the dish rack and turned to look Christina in the eyes. "I avoid you, Christina Gardens, because you are a prostitute, because I hate coming here every night, because people like you are deceptive and disloyal and impure and pathetic, and because I have lost the only woman who I could ever love and the very idea of forming a relationship with a woman is preposterous. Now get out of my sight you crazy bitch."

Arthur turned back to his sink and continued washing the dishes in front of him. Christina was of course expecting the insults on her being a prostitute, but the sudden outburst on his one true love had been totally unexpected.

She shook off her surprise. "You sound like my mum. After she found proof about my dad's affairs she ignored it for years. She said that as long as he was coming home, even if it was only twice a week, she had to hold on to him because she could never love another man. Well, eventually a whole week passed and he didn't come back, then two years passed and he came back with a woman like me and two kids. I started sucking cocks behind a local liquor store when I was sixteen, it started when I was trying to save up for a car, and then mum needed surgery, lost her job, and I never got my car, it was just one thing after another. I got pretty close to getting all the money for mum's surgery before my dad found it, took it, and gambled and drank it away. My mum is in the hospital dying from brain cancer, my dad helps pay for some of her treatment but it's mostly on me. I don't know how proud, privileged people like you think slutty, sinful people like me got this way, but let me tell you that I am not deceptive or disloyal. Impure and pathetic? Yes, I am that. But I don't lie and I have never turned my back on anyone. You judge me and others like me too harshly, Bradley. Every woman out there has a story, maybe you should hear them before you let yourself believe that you're better than us."

She dropped her dish towel in the sink and walked out of the kitchen, all the while admiring her souvenir, a strange silver ring with symbols which had been in his pocket. Arthur watched her go and felt an odd feeling of guilt. He thought he had nothing to be guilty of, he had just wanted her to leave him alone. He had never considered what led women to prostitution, he had just sort of assumed it was their choice. And then he thought, _What would I be willing to do to save the life of my mother? _

He tried to ignore these thoughts and returned to his washing, this time losing all of the excitement he had been working with earlier.

(AN: Okay, I know that Britain has national health care, but can we just pretend that they don't for the sake of the story? Also I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what you think of Christina. Do you love her? Do you hate her? Do you really not care? Also I am seriously considering introducing a new OC in the near future, my problem is I have ideas for two different characters but I only want to introduce one. So my question is; would you prefer an interesting character with a lot of cliches? Or a less interesting character who is extremely original? I just can't decide because I've fallen in love with my cliche character, but my more original character needs to give Merlin a message that would be weird for my cliche character to give. Please help me out and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading! :D)


	39. Chapter 39

Leila looked over the plans again and again. Everything would be fine as long as she could keep it together. Rosalie had stopped worrying about her so much and focused mainly on the attacks which would bring destruction and glory. Because of this, Rosalie hardly noticed Leila's black out sessions. They were becoming more frequent and the voice would taunt her.

_Oh Leeeeeeiiiiiilaaaaa! I know you're up to something, what is it? What are you planning? I know you can hear me. Talk to me, I'm so bored. _Leila ignored the voice. _I'm going to kill you, Leila. You will fail. _

"Who are you?! Who are you really?!"

The voice seemed to laugh. _It's driving you crazy, isn't it? Feeling so helpless when you're used to so much power. Not knowing who or what I am. I think I'll keep you wondering for a while longer. I don't like you, Leila, I don't like you at all. I'm going to kill you, remember that. I will kill you. _

Leila's vision came back and she stared at the attack plans. She just had to get past the next three days and then she could panic. She reached for the radio and turned it up, letting the voices of Carmen drown out her worried thoughts. She rather admired these humans, she still wanted to kill them of course, but their forms of art were rather exquisite. She particularly loved singing. In Taerlah, they made music through pipes and bells, but they couldn't make music from their own bodies the way humans could.

She neatened her pile of plans and slid them into a yellow folder. She took the folder to the suitcase on her bed and placed it on top. She then closed the case and zipped it up, everything was ready. Rosalie came in exactly when she was supposed to, one o'clock. They smiled at each other and kissed.

Four hours later, Leila buckled her seatbelt on the airplane. She sat in between a thin, ginger man and black lady blowing bubble gum. She sat back in her seat and played a track from Madama Butterfly through her headphones.

A flight attendant spoke over the intercom telling everyone how to use all of the emergency equipment and promised it would be a good flight. "Next stop London."

Halfway through the flight Leila felt an extremely painful banging in her head.

Lila picked up the metal rod she had produced from her dreams and hit the white tile wall. She hit it with all her strength, over and over again.

Leila gasped and threw off her headphones. She clutched onto the hair near her temples and the black lady beside her looked at her concerned. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" Leila grunted and moaned.

Lila hit the wall with all of her power until something happened. The tiniest crack appeared in the wall.

Leila screamed. The whole plane looked and several attendants rushed to where she was. She screamed again as the crumbling pain in her head throbbed. Someone called out, "We need a doctor! Is anyone here a doctor?!"

Lila put down her rod and looked at the crack she had made. Finally! She touched it gingerly at first and then pressed her hands against it with pressure.

Leila screamed again, feeling something so incredibly painful she couldn't explain. Somehow they had gotten her into the aisle and she was lying on the floor. Several attendants and two passengers kneeled around her trying to figure out what was wrong.

Lila felt the room shake a bit as she pressed the crack. She took her hands off of the crack and the shaking stopped. She put one hand back on the crack and it started again. She took it off, it stopped. She was pretty exhausted at that point and so she took the metal rod and leaned it against the wall right on top of the crack. The room shook violently, but because it was technically part of Lila's dream, the rod did not fall over from the shaking. Lila crawled onto the hospital bed and closed her eyes.

Leila's pain did not go away, it became bearable, but it did not go away. By the time the plane landed she had taken maybe half a bottle of Aspirin. She went to her hotel straight away without checking in with Nixon like she was supposed to.

When she got there she dumped her suitcase on the floor, sat on the bed, and let the tears of pain and fear escape her eyes. This caused her to cry even more from fear because _sons of Taerlah should not be able to cry._

(AN: Hey guys! Thank you so much JAM for reviewing, your review has not showed up on the site but I did get your review in an email. Knowing your thoughts on Christina is very helpful to me so I know how people are perceiving the character and since you are so far the only one to vote on my OCs, it is very probable that I will be introducing cliche. I encourage more people to leave reviews specifically on what you think of Christina and if you would prefer to meet a cliche character or a more original character. They really do help me so please don't be shy. Thanks for reading! :D)


	40. Chapter 40

Arthur panicked. _Oh no, oh no, oh no. Shit! I knew I shouldn't have taken it to work! I'm so stupid! Why would I take a powerful magic ring to work?! Stupid! _

He paced the main room while Merlin showered. He would have to tell Merlin, he'd be furious! What would he do?! Arthur thought back to last night and tried to remember what he had done with the ring. He had kept it in his pocket when Merlin was around but put it on his finger after work had started. He had just been washing dishes, so maybe it fell into the sink? If it had fallen in the sink it had definitely gone down the drain because he had made sure the sink was completely empty before leaving. But it couldn't have gone down the drain because it has a protector meant to keep things from going down the drain. Could he have lost it on the way home? He didn't remember hiding the ring from Merlin and he doubted Merlin wouldn't have noticed Arthur wearing the ring. Where could it be?!

Arthur took a few deep breathes. _It's only one little ring, I'm sure Merlin has more than one magic ring, right? He won't be that angry, it's not like he didn't lose a thousand of my things back in Camelot. _He sat down on the pullout bed and tried to relax. _Everything is going to be fine. _

Merlin opened the bathroom door.

_SHIT! _

"Hey, are we out of toothpaste?"

Arthur thought frantically. _Toothpaste. He's saying something about toothpaste, not magic rings. Why the hell is he asking about toothpaste? _"Uhh, I don't know."

Merlin sighed and closed the bathroom door. Arthur got up and continued pacing. He wondered if he could sneak into The Lace and look around for the ring. Yes, he decided that was a good idea. He grabbed a brown coat, which was actually Merlin's but fit Arthur better than his own, and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Oi! Merlin! I'm going out, don't have a heart attack cause you can't find me."

A thump noise came from inside. Merlin moaned. "What are you going out for? Where?"

Arthur thought about this. "Getting toothpaste. And … you know … other stuff."

"Okay, get something for lunch while you're at it."

Arthur put on the coat as he walked upstairs. He saw Catherine and mumbled a good morning greeting. She glanced at him and kept walking, God women are stubborn! He walked outside and thrust his hands in his pockets.

After Arthur had left, someone rang the doorbell. Catherine dropped her laundry basket on the floor and went to answer it. A dark haired woman with blonde highlights and dark brown eyes stood at the door. She wore dark blue skinny jeans, furry white boots, a very nice red coat, and carried a black purse.

She smiled at Catherine, "Does Bradley James live here?"

"Um, yes he does, you just missed him though …"

Christina walked inside without an invitation and took a look at the house. She turned around slowly. "He does have a friend who lives with him, yes? Is he here?"

"I don't know, they live in the basement. I'm sorry, who are you?"

Christina faced her and smiled. She held out her hand to shake, "Christina Gardens, Bradley and I work together, he asked me over."

Catherine shook her hand. "Catherine. He just left actually, don't know where he was going."

Christina frowned. "Yes you said that, his friend, in the basement?"

Catherine walked in front of her towards the basement. "Yeah, his name's Colin." She opened the door and yelled down the stairs. "Hey Colin! You there?! Christina from work is here!"

There was no response.

"You can go on down there if you like. Doesn't matter to me."

Christina walked down the stairs. "Thank you Cathy."

"Uh, Catherine, actually."

Christina kept walking and Catherine went back to her laundry. Christina found herself in a very messy basement, with all kinds of crap spread out, she'd never seen guys with such a candle collection. She sat herself down on the couch and watched Colin come out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

"Oh my God." He stumbled back into the bathroom, embarrassed.

Christina laughed at him. "Oh don't worry, Colin. I've caught men at worse times." She took off her coat and Merlin peeked around the corner of the door.

"You're the woman from work. What are you doing here? How did you even find us?"

"You wrote your address down on your work applications. I 'm waiting for Bradley."

"Who let you in? Was it Catherine?"

"Yes, Cathy let me in."

"Her name's Catherine."

"So where's Bradley?"

Merlin hesitated. "He went to get toothpaste. Why am I even telling you this? Get out!"

Christina looked down at something in her hands Merlin couldn't see. "I can't do that. I won't do that. I need to talk to Bradley."

"Why?! What could you possibly have to say to him?"

Christina twisted the ring around her finger. "I need to talk to him about something I stole."

Merlin was surprised. "What did you steal?"

Christina ignored him.

"Why would Ar –er-Bradley care?"

"Because it's his."

Merlin stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. He changed into his clothes as quickly as he could and came back out again.

"I thought you looked just fine in the towel."

Merlin blushed furiously and walked towards Christina. "What did you steal?"

Christina smiled at him, "Get Bradley and maybe I'll tell you."

Arthur got on his back and cursed himself for losing the ring in the first place. He took his screwdriver and dismantled the pipes underneath the sink. Immediately, Arthur regretted his actions as a clump of green gunk fell between his eyes. He took a towel by his feet and wiped his face off. He then started the unpleasant task of searching the pipes for his magic ring. He thought that he could've found the ring easily with magic, but he needed the ring in order to use magic.

He heard Lila's … he took a deep breath, _his _mobile ring. He crawled out from under the sink and picked up the mobile. Merlin was calling. He answered the call.

"Stop worrying! I just got on the wrong bus, I'm on my way back now!"

"Are you now, dish-boy?"

(AN: Soooooo I've only gotten one opinion on Christina so I'm going to assume that the rest of you don't care that much about her and continue to include her in this story. Sorry JAM that you don't like her, I'll try to make it up to you by writing really super awesome stuff that will distract you from Christina. Thanks for reading! :D)


	41. Chapter 41

Arthur gaped at the sound of Christina's voice. "HOW DID YOU GET MERLIN'S PHONE?!"

"Who?"

Arthur heard Merlin in the background. "It's a nickname."

"WHAT IS SHE DOING WITH YOUR PHONE?!"

"Oh, _Merlin _is letting me borrow it. I need to see you, now. Be home in fifteen minutes and we'll talk. I have something of yours. And don't forget the toothpaste."

Arthur lied flat on the floor for a few seconds, processing what had just happened. Christina was at the house, with Merlin's phone, and had something of Arthur's. Hadn't he had an encounter with her the night he lost his ring? He quickly left The Lace, not bothering to reassemble the sink pipes. He caught a taxi and drove back to the house. He unlocked the door and ran down to the basement where Christina sat on the couch reading a copy of _The Once and Future King _pamphlet.

"I had no idea you were such a good photographer. Maybe you can take my picture sometime." Christina smirked. "You wouldn't have any biscuits by chance?"

Merlin stood behind the couch not looking happy. "We're out."

Christina frowned. "Well maybe you should go get some. What I have to say doesn't concern you anyway. Make sure you get lemon ones, I love the lemon ones."

Merlin fumed. "I'm not your grocery boy …"

Arthur cut in, "It's okay Colin, you can go."

Merlin looked very surprised and reluctant to go. Arthur nodded to him. Merlin hesitated, then walked towards the stairs. "I needed toothpaste anyway."

Arthur and Christina waited until they were sure Merlin had left. Christina smiled at him. "Sit."

"This is my home, if I wanted to sit I would, I don't need your invitation."

"Fine, stand, but you'll probably have to sit down after I start talking."

"Start talking then."

Christina's smile faded and became serious. "I'm not crazy, I know what I saw. Don't tell me I'm crazy because that is bullshit. I know exactly what I saw and why I saw it. Your ring has some kind of power, I can sense it, use it even. I stole it off you last time I saw you. Yes I know, stealing is rude, but it was no ruder than what you said about me. I know I'm not crazy, your ring has some kind of power and it … it's shown me things."

Arthur sat down slowly. "What are you talking about? What did it show you?"

Christina looked up, surprised. "You don't think I'm crazy?"

Arthur shook his head and Christina smiled. "So what is it? How does it do it?"

Arthur hesitated. "It's magic."

Christina frowned, then smiled again. "Ha ha, seriously though?"

"Seriously."

Christina stopped smiling. "Bradley I'm really freaked out by this, I need a real explanation. I can't sleep at night because of this thing."

Arthur shook his head. "You shouldn't have gotten Colin to leave, he can explain these things better than me, but it really is magic. Here, give me the ring."

Arthur held out his hand and Christina stared at it. "I don't have it."

"_What_?"

"I didn't bring it."

"Why not?!"

Christina straightened her posture and put on a business-like expression. "I thought I'd negotiate a price."

Arthur took his hand and ran it through his hair. Of course, she wanted money. "I need that ring, okay, it's dangerous. I understand you need money for your …"

"I'm not asking for money."

Arthur stopped, then what did she want?

Christina sighed. "I slept with it on, and I swear to God it gave me visions. They weren't just dreams, they were _real. _I saw your friend do something incredible, his eyes went gold and he started an earthquake! I don't know how and I can agree not to ask and give you back the ring, if you can get him to do something for me."

Arthur considered this. He thought that anything Christina wanted Merlin could do. "What do you want him to do?"

"I want him to cure my mother's cancer."

Arthur thought he should've seen that coming, but could Merlin do that? Could he cure a disease Merlin had told him was incurable? Arthur reached for his phone, "I'm calling Colin." He dialed the number and waited.

Merlin picked up. "Hey, man, get back to the house quickly, Christina has something to tell you. Yeah, it's important. No, Colin, I really don't care which brand of toothpaste you get. Would you just shut up about the toothpaste already? I don't care about biscuits either! Just don't take long, okay! Alright, bye." Arthur hung up. "He's on his way."

"What is it with your friend and toothpaste?"

Arthur ignored her question. "You mentioned visions. What did you see?"

Christina's face went blank and then slowly formed into a smile. "I have a price for that information."

Arthur groaned. "I'm about to convince my best friend to perform a miracle, what more could you possibly want?!"

"Dinner, you, me, no Colin, tonight. Make it somewhere nice. It's the only way you will have hope of getting rid of me."

Arthur blushed angrily. "No."

"Fine, but I do think you will want to hear about my visions, most of them concern Colin and not in a good way."

Arthur felt his face go a bit pale. What was going to happen to Merlin? What did she know? He felt himself begin to panic as his imagination went wild with possibilities for what Christina had seen. She did know how to get what she wanted. "Fine, now tell me what you mean about Colin."

"We'll talk after dinner."

"Damnit woman! If you know something about Colin you are going to tell me or so help me I will force it out of you! What is going to happen to Colin?!"

"You're very cute when you get protective, but I'm not scared. If you hurt me I can guarantee that you will never know what is going to happen, and I think it would be best if you were to know."


	42. Chapter 42

In a hotel room in London, a girl with bright pink hair was curled up on a bed sobbing. The pain was unbearable. She screamed as it came back fresh and harder than before. She could hear metal hitting metal from deep in her mind, the heavy breathing of someone who would not give up.

Lila hit the wall with her metal rod one last time before stopping to examine the damage she had made.

Leila reveled in the absence of pain and quickly dove for the bottle of Aspirin on a nearby desk. She swallowed almost a whole fourth of the bottle trying to drown out the remaining pain.

Lila saw the crack in the wall had grown bigger and the tiles surrounding it were threatening to crumble. She dared to look through the crack. She saw bits of the thought and memories of the thing possessing her body, but it was all going by too fast for her to understand it. Leila's mind was in confusion and panic because of the pain. Lila sighed and picked her metal rod up again.

Leila didn't make it back to the bed in time and fell to the floor thrashing about violently. "STOP! STOP PLEASE! JUST STOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

Lila heard the screams and replied with hatred in her voice, _Never. _

Merlin paced the length of the main room. "I cannot believe you LOST the ring! Do you think those things are easy to come by?! I had to sell my back molars for that ring! Do you realize how painful it is to get your molars removed?! I had to eat soup for a week! And then you can never eat the same! And now because of _your_ stupidity for taking a magic ring to a strip club,_ I_ have to pay for _my _ring a second time!"

Christina cut in, "Is he always this cheery?"

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"I'm just asking for a tiny miracle to save my mother's life, there's no need to get all fired up about it."

"I. Wasn't. Talking. To. YOU!"

"I'm sorry, Merlin. I wasn't thinking. Can't you just heal the woman's cancer?"

Merlin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "It wouldn't be easy … cancer is different from most illnesses, I can try, I would at least be able to prolong her life by a few decades. But the point is you LOST a magic ring which in the wrong hands could be extremely dangerous!"

"I'm not going to do it again, I promise!"

"Would you stop yelling at him because I stole a ring? I mean really, it wasn't his fault, I'm just an expert at stealing."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "So the deal is I heal your mum and you give us back the ring?"

"Yes."

"Fine, but I want to know how you know about my powers. Did he tell you?!"

"No I didn't tell her! She saw it in a vision or something!"

Merlin turned on Christina, fear in his eyes. "You saw a vision with the ring?"

Christina sat up straight. "I have already made an arrangement with Bradley to pass over all information involving my visions _after_ he takes me out to dinner."

Merlin looked at Arthur. "You're taking her to dinner?"

Arthur shrugged. "What choice do I have?"

"Oi! Stop making it sound like some great sacrifice! I'm not that bad." Merlin and Arthur smirked in unison, making Christina glower. "And another thing, who are you two?"

"What do you mean?"

Christina cleared her throat. "There are four Colin Morgan's in Britain. Two are still children, one is in jail, and the last is an eighty-three year old man. The only Bradley James is black. Who are you guys?"

There was a long pause. "Would you believe it if I told you I'm actually the old man?"

Arthur chuckled. Christina rolled her eyes. "Fine, I won't ask questions as long as this works, and it better work. You're going to heal my mum now. Where are your keys? I'm driving."

They drove to Mercy Hospital and parked in the garage. Christina led the way through the white hallways of the oncology ward. She stopped in front of a waiting room desk and smiled at the middle aged woman behind the desk. "Hey Sally. How've you been?"

The woman smiled and stood, giving Christina a hug. "Oh, I've been just fine. It's good to see you Christina, you look so grown up!"

Christina blushed and pulled away to look at Sally. "How is she?"

Sally smiled sadly. "Just the same as always, she'll be happy to see you. I see you brought friends."

Christina stepped to the side to display the two men who were standing awkwardly behind her. "This is Colin and Bradley. Bradley wanted to meet my mum, we've been dating for a month now, and Colin decided to come. We all work together at the store."

Arthur blushed and his eyes went wide at hearing Christina say they'd been dating, which they most certainly had not and anything suggesting they had been was very unwelcomed by Arthur.

Sally smiled and shook their hands. "It's so very nice to meet you. It's nice to see friends of Christina's who care about her poor mother. The poor woman is always asking to meet her friends. She thinks Christina's still a child so you might not want to mention the dating thing." Sally walked back to her desk and pushed a button to open the door to a different section of the ward.

Christina smiled at Sally and walked through the door, followed by Arthur and Merlin. "Why did you tell her we were dating?!"

"I told her earlier I had a boyfriend and she's been expecting him to come around, so I decided to make you him. Don't be shy, caring boyfriend suits you I think."

"We are not! I am not your boyfriend! I never will be! Would you stop trying to force things on me and put words in my mouth! I hate you! I am not attracted to you in any way!"

"Whatever you say, dish-boy." Arthur groaned in frustration.

They continued on until coming to an area which seperated beds by curtains. Christina pulled one away to reveal a woman in a hospital bed with tubes going through her and devices monitoring her health. Arthur had never seen anything like it, all of the strange devices and mysterious liquids hanging in bags on metal poles sent his head spinning, this was nothing like anything he'd ever seen. The woman in the bed had dark skin and hair like Christina's and wore a blue hospital gown. She muttered something as they came in.

"Hola mama, soy yo, Christina."

Christina's mother looked up at her slowly and reached out for her daughter's hand. Christina took it and smiled at her mother. "Okay, you do what you do, heal her."

Merlin walked to the woman and felt her pulse. His eyes glowed as he looked past her skin and found the tumor growing in her head. He frowned. "The tumor is in its late stages, she should be dead in a month or so. If I do this I can save her, but her memory and thought process would suffer. She would most likely have to spend the rest of her life in a special institution. She would live, but at a great cost."

Christina spun her head toward Merlin, tears in her eyes. "Look at her. She can't even speak and most of her mind is already gone. She would be the same as she is now accept she would _live. _I don't expect her to ever go back to work or be able to take care of herself, I just want her to _live._"

Merlin nodded with understanding. "She's going to feel a lot of pain. You might want to leave …"

"I'm not going anywhere. If she'll be in pain it's only more reason for me to be with her."

Merlin closed his eyes and put his hands on the woman's forehead. She stared up at the warlock as he opened his eyes and his eyes flashed gold.

(AN: Hello all. I am so glad to hear that JAM is looking forward to my "super amazing awesome stuff" and that his/her opinion of Christina does not lessen his/her interest in the story. I am still fishing for votes on what character to add to this story so please go look at the AN in chapter 38 and leave a review? I really would appreciate it since this decision could possibly alter all of my plans for the story. Thanks! :D)


	43. Chapter 43

Christina tightened her hand around her mother's as she began to gasp and shake. Arthur watched with horror as the woman before them went into small spasms. Christina's mother looked up at her daughter with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Me siento, mama."

The woman began gasping frantically and the devices around her started beeping and making panicked noises. Merlin shouted at Arthur over the machines' noises, "Arthur, if anyone tries to intervene stop them!"

"How?!"

"I don't know just do it!"

The woman started crying as her body shook more violently. Christina begged with her mother, "Por favor, mama, espera."

A group of nurses ran down the hallway toward Christina's mother and Arthur stood in their way. "Move out of the way, son!"

"I'm sorry, you can't go in there."

One of the nurses walked forward and attempted to push Arthur out of the way. Arthur grabbed their hand and twisted it painfully. The nurse yelled in shock and pain. Another nurse rushed to their side and looked at their wrist. Arthur stood his ground and repeated in a strong and threatening tone, "You can't go in there."

One of the nurses stepped forward and attempted to tackle Arthur. He punched the nurse under his jaw and kicked him in his knee, forcing him to crumble to the floor. "Listen kid! That woman is in critical condition! In her condition she will die! Get out of the way and let us do our job!"

Arthur did not reply. The nurse he had kicked stood and tried to punch Arthur. Arthur ducked his head and grabbed the man's wrist, he then pulled the nurse forward and punched him in the ribs. Arthur pushed the nurse away and waited for the next attacker.

While Arthur fought the insistent nurses, Merlin focused on the tumor inside the woman's head. Christina's mother started sobbing and making strange high pitched noises. Christina looked at her mother with tears in her own eyes. "Me siento, mama, me siento! Por favor espera! Yo estoy aqui! Espera mama!"

The patient slowly closed her eyes and the shaking lessened. Merlin took a deep breath, confident in his work, and took away his hand. The devices went back to normal and the woman's breathing went to normal.

Christina shook her mother, tears in her eyes, "Mama? Mama?"

"She'll be alright, I'd let the doctors watch her for a few days, just in case. We have to get out of here, I imagine security will be here soon. Arthur! It's time to go!"

Arthur gave one last punch in the cheek and ran back to the hospital bed. "What'd I miss?"

"She'll be fine, and we have to get out of here. I am not paying fines for you beating up the hospital staff."

"You told me to to keep them away!"

"Yes and you did a great job. Now come on!"

Christina ran in front of them and led them to a back staircase. They ran down the staircase and ended up in the back where the trucks dropped off supplies. They walked to the garage and Christina let Merlin drive.

"Now you give us the ring."

"Drop me off at my place and I'll bring it by when I come over for dinner."

Arthur blushed. "We just saved your mother's life! I think that's worth a ring and a description of your visions!"

"Of course it is, but you already promised and I can tell you're a man of your word."

"Alright, alright. Where do you live?"

"Bradley can tell you."

Arthur blushed. "Um, it's right on Kings Street. The party I went to was at her house." Merlin took a right.

"I'll come by around six-thirty. You're paying. I'll see you later, dish-boy." She smiled at him as she got out of the car and Arthur rolled his eyes and blushed. He could not believe he had actually agreed to this.

(AN: Hello all! I lost a follower today. :( Although I am saddened by it, I respect their decision to unfollow. I only wish that person had taken the time to tell me why they unfollowed this story. If there is something you don't like about this story or anyway you think it could be better, please don't hesitate to let me know. I love reviews and I respect every reader's opinion. Thanks for reading! :D)


	44. Chapter 44

Arthur looked through their phone book. "Where does she expect me to take her? I don't know any of these restaurants! Why does she even want dinner with me anyway?! Merlin!"

Merlin was pulled from his daze. "Sorry, what?"

Arthur closed the phone book loudly. "Where do I take Christina?"

Merlin smirked, "You're really nervous about your date, aren't you?"

Arthur blushed a deep red, causing Merlin to laugh out loud. "IT IS NOT A DATE!"

"Arthur, when you've been around as long as I have you can tell when people like each other."

"I do not! I just want her to tell us about her visions! She said … she said something … about _you._"

Merlin spoke with sarcasm, "And so you're taking her on a date because you care so much about me?"

Arthur answered sincerely, "Yeah."

"Here." Merlin threw a steak house advertisement at Arthur from a nearby newspaper. "It's even got a coupon in there. Now go get ready, you wouldn't want to be late for your date?"

"It is not a date."

"Whatever you say, just promise me you won't let it get too far, I don't trust her."

Arthur grunted in agreement and went to go get changed. He ended up wearing black trousers, a white collared shirt and brown leather shoes. He looked from a black tie to a dark blue tie, unable to decide.

"Wear the blue one, you need a little bit of color or you'll look like one of the blues brothers."

"Who?"

"Just wear the blue one!"

Arthur put down the black tie and put the blue one on his neck. He twisted the tie this way and that, trying to do it the way he'd seen Merlin do it earlier. Merlin looked up from his newspaper as he heard the childish frustrated sound of defeat come from Arthur.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Come here."

Arthur stood in front of Merlin as he tied his tie perfectly. "Thanks."

"Whether it be armor or neck ties, I'll always be here." Merlin smiled at his king and sat back down with his newspaper. Arthur couldn't help but think how loyal Merlin was, after all these years and all of his power, the warlock still put up with the king.

He went into the bathroom to look at himself, he preferred the medieval look he was used to, but these modern clothes were not too bad. He went back into the main room and sat next to Merlin on the couch. It was six-twenty-six, Christina would be here soon. Arthur felt himself become somewhat nervous at the thought of what he was about to do. Go to a restaurant and eat dinner with Christina Gardens, the woman who stripped and slept with men for money in order to save her mother, the woman who had become fascinated in him, Arthur, and had begun nearly stalking him, the woman who dared to steal from him, the woman who bargained for her mother's life, the woman who valued a meal with him as much as the terrifying information she kept from them, the woman who drove him crazy. Arthur had faced horrible creatures and humongous armies, a date with Christina Gardens should not have scared him so much, so why did it?

His heart picked up speed as he heard high heel shoes walking down the stairs to the basement. Arthur stood and watched Christina descend down the stairs. She wore a dark blue dress that showed her legs, black pumps, and blue and silver jewelry. "You ready, dish-boy?"

Arthur sneered, "How'd you get in the house?"

Christina held up a pair of keys. "I snatched these from you earlier, hope you don't mind."

Arthur steamed in anger, wondering if there was anything else she had taken from him all those times she had harassed him. "Give me those!"

Christina dropped them on the floor and Arthur stooped down to get them.

"Hi Colin."

Merlin looked up from his newspaper. "Would you two get out so I can read? Honestly! I can't even get two minutes of peace because of you both! Just get out!"

Arthur held out his hand, "Where's my ring?"

Christina dropped it in his hand and Arthur put it on his finger. Arthur walked past Christina up the stairs and she followed.

(AN: Dear JAM, and anyone else who may be wondering. Sorry that you were confused about Arthur's apparent age. I don't really put an exact age on him when writing, but I usually think of him as somewhere in between twenty-five and thirty years old. I don't make it specific because I know some people think of him as younger and others think of him as older, also I like to manipulate the uncertainty so I can have people call him "kid". I don't think that middle aged people calling a man who is thirty or in his late twenties "kid" is very unusual since I know that that is often how they are viewed by people of that age range. But I don't really know since I am not middle aged yet and will not be for some time. I will let you envision Arthur and Merlin in whatever age you think suitable. Thank you for asking because it shows me that you, and possibly others, are taking interest in the details. Lastly, I am on the brink of making a decision about which original character I will write about, and which I will either throw away for good or save for later. So once again I ask you, would you rather meet an interesting, cliche character who will bring with them a very active subplot? Or a pretty original character who will bring about a very important part of the story, but then sort of be boring for the rest of the story or possibly his life? **Spoiler: **The more original one would give you a more detailed look into Lila's back story and all the things she hid from Merlin. Druid symbol tattoos is only the beginning! **End of Spoiler. **Thanks for reading! :D)


	45. Chapter 45

Leila dragged herself off the floor. The banging had stopped but the ache was still strong. She pulled herself up to be face to face with the mirror. She froze in horror. Her left hand lifted itself from her side to her nose, where a thick, steady flow of blood ran from her nostrils. She backed up, losing her balance. _How is this happening? How is this happening?! _She clasped her hands on the bedpost and took deep breaths. She couldn't lose it. The invasion was only two days away, just two days. She reached for the tissue box with a shaking hand. She wiped up the blood on her face and stared at the bloody tissue with confusion. _It must be something wrong with the vessel, perhaps she had some fatal disease. _

She closed her eyes and searched the girl's mind for memories. In a matter of minutes she watched the girl's whole life and determined there was no illness or disorder causing this.

Leila felt herself losing consciousness, slipping away into the dark.

Lila watched her life replay through the crack. She could feel the connection with these memories, she could taste freedom. She crammed two fingers through the crack to reach out to the memories. These were hers. Leila was in her territory now.

Lila gasped. She did it. She did it! She looked around her. She was in a nice hotel room, it was nine at night, and … was that blood on her face? She smiled at the sight of her own thick blood, she had caused some damage then, good. She lunged to the phone and picked it up. She stared at the dialer. She hadn't really thought this through, had she? She desperately needed to talk to Merlin. How? She couldn't just call him, Leila would be able to retrace the call and find his location. She didn't know where he was so she couldn't mail him anything. He had probably gotten a new email since he was no longer an old man. She couldn't risk telepathy because Leila was inside her head and … and … Oh no.

_No! I need more time! No! NO! _

Leila collapsed on the floor. She let out painful sobs. She had been in a room, a white tile room with a hospital bed and a crack in the wall. She remembered seeing and hearing things from the crack. She had looked through and seen the memories of Lila, and she realized what had happened.

_The bitch is awake! She got out through the memories. How could I have been so stupid! But I followed the rules, she should be asleep. Unless … _

It hit Leila like a brick wall. _Three-fifths. _She had only given _three-fifths _of what she was supposed to, back in the cave where she was summoned. She didn't break any rules but she did bend them, perhaps she bent them enough to weaken the agreement between the master and sacrifice.

There were only a few things the master was not allowed to do, deny the request of those who summoned her and hurt the host. The host was then supposed to simply remain dormant inside the mind, basically die without letting the soul free. Lila's soul had been woken up, and she was pissed.

"So it's you, Lila. You are the one who has frightened my soul. Now that I know who you are, I do not fear you. You are but a child wailing for attention, pulling on my arm. I am second in command of a perfect race, you will not overpower me. I will find you in that white tile room and rip you apart, starting with your _disgusting _pink hair." Leila smiled at her reflection in the mirror and laughed with evil glee.

"Just you wait, Lila."


	46. Chapter 46

Christina watched as Arthur pulled out the chair for her. She smiled, he was so polite and noble. She sat down opposite Arthur.

Arthur sat there awkwardly, not sure what to do now. He cleared his throat, "You look nice."

"You don't look too bad yourself."

A waiter with greased back black hair stopped at their table. "Good evening, I am Philip, I will be your server. Can I interest you in something to drink?"

Christina spoke up. "We'll take a bottle of your best red wine."

Philip handed them their menus and walked away towards the kitchen. Arthur silently looked through the menu.

"You seem nervous, dish-boy."

Arthur gritted his teeth. "I'm not nervous. And would you stop calling me dish-boy? It's annoying."

Christina tilted her head to one side. "No, I don't think I can, sorry. It's just too fun teasing you."

Arthur hid behind his menu as he inspected the ring she had given him. It made him more aware of the magic around him, it made him feel powerful.

Christina reached across the table and pulled Arthur's menu away from him. She looked him in the eyes. "Thank you."

Arthur blinked blankly. "For what?"

"My mother is going to live because of you and Colin, I can never repay you enough, but it's more than that. I hate my life, I hate being men's object. But now that I know that my mum is going to be fine, I don't think I have to be anymore. I want to do something with my life, and you've given me the freedom I need to do so. So … thank you."

Arthur did not know how to respond. "Erm, … you're welcome. But I really didn't do anything it was Colin …"

"Yeah you did. He really cares about you, you know? I can tell. I think you care a lot about him too, so I have to ask … are you gay?"

Arthur did not entirely understand the question. "Well, I suppose so. I have Mer-um-Colin at least, so I'm not totally unhappy."

Christina let go of Arthur's menu and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry then, about trying to flirt with you. I didn't realize you were in a relationship. I just like stubborn people, I don't really know why."

"Um, relationship? I don't understand. What does my friendship with Colin have to do with you flirting with me?"

Christina furrowed her eyebrows together. "So … you're not in a relationship with Colin?"

"I'm his friend, what did you think …"

"You're living with him … and you said you're gay."

"What does being happy have to do with living with Colin?"

"Wait, you think I was asking if you're happy?"

"What else would you mean by gay?"

There was silence for a moment. Christina started laughing uncontrollably. Arthur was severely confused and annoyed with her reaction to his question. "What is so funny?!"

Christina only laughed harder. "You're pulling my leg!"

Arthur was only more confused, "I haven't touched your leg! Nor do I plan to!"

Christina gasped for breath and smiled at Arthur. "You really had me thinking you were gay! You looked so serious, you'd make a good actor."

"I wasn't _acting_! I don't understand why you're laughing! Or where this conversation has even gone! What did you think I meant by gay?!"

Christina gave him a knowing, sarcastic look. "If you have such a great sense of humor, why were you all by yourself at that Christmas party?" Arthur gave an exasperated sigh and gave up. _Women! _

Philip came to their table carrying a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. He set the glasses down and poured a generous amount into each. "Can I interest you in some appetizers? Or are you ready to order?"

Christina looked at Arthur. "I think we're ready to order. I'll take what he's having."

Arthur looked down at the menu. "Um, we'll have the steak dinner." Philip took the menus away.

Christina watched Arthur as she sipped her wine. Arthur picked up his glass and sipped it. He gagged and forced himself to swallow it. He coughed and cleared his throat. "That's um, that's very _sweet_."

Christina raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly how I'd describe it, but whatever. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions."

Arthur took a sip from a small glass of water, washing away the sweet taste of the red wine. "What are you going to do now?"

Christina looked up. "Hmm?"

"You said you wanted to do something with your life? What are you going to do?"

Christina stared at him blankly, hints of worry and sadness flashing in her eyes. She smiled a bit nervously, "You'll find out."

Arthur was confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"This is not where our acquaintance ends. I know you think you're getting rid of me now that I've given you the ring, agreed to hand over information on my visions, and confirmed that you will no longer be seeing me at The Lace, but you're wrong. I'm in your future." Her smile widened as Arthur's look of confusion intensified.

"This is a one-time deal you realize? I'm only having dinner with you for the information."

"Yes I know that, but all the same you'll still be seeing me around. Just wait till after dinner and you'll understand."

Arthur then realized that she had been in the visions. They ate slowly while they talked and Arthur decided Christina was not so horrible after all, he didn't like her though, no, he could never like her, never ever ever. As they walked back to the house, Arthur let Christina take his arm. When they got back to the basement, they saw that Merlin had been waiting for them.

"I was beginning to think you had gotten lost."

Christina smiled, "No, we just took the long way back."

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "I see. Okay, let's get on with it then." Merlin walked towards Christina and grabbed her by her elbow. "Take my elbow."

Christina grabbed his elbow. Merlin looked at Arthur and held out his hand. Arthur took both of their elbows, forming a triangle. "Christina, you need to focus on your visions. Replay them in your mind and give them the freedom to leave your mind."

All three of them closed their eyes and Christina thought about her visions. Images ran through the minds of the trio, horrible images. Firing seas, crumbling mountains, flooded deserts, and yellow air. The skies turned black and red, and the earth shook. Merlin stood in the middle of an old street with gold eyes, he was causing the earth quake.

Next they saw Arthur running through a forest, covered in dirt. He panted for air and looked behind him. "CHRISTINA!" He saw nothing and no reply came. He stopped and looked around frantically. "CHRISTINA!"

They heard a scream come from the distance. Arthur whispered, "_No._" He ran back the way he'd been running away from. "CHRISTINA!" The scene changed.

A woman they did not know stood on the steps of the white house. Her light brunette hair blowed behind her in the wind and she smiled with red lips. "HUMANS! YOUR TIME HAS ENDED! YOUR GODS HAVE FAILED! YOUR IMPERFECTIONS SHALL BE REPLACED BY OUR PERFECTION! THIS WORLD IS OURS! TREMBLE BEFORE THE SONS OF TAERLAH! FEAR ME AND MY BROTHERS!"

A young woman with bright pink hair sat on the back of a bus. She stared out the window with a look of complete terror in her eyes. She spoke to herself, "I swear, if you don't stop this … I'll kill him. I don't care if it's impossible I will find a way. Just stop the pain." She brushed a hand through her hair. "Stop the …" She stared in even more horror as a whole clump of pink hair fell from her head and into her hands. She screamed in fury. "LILA!"

The same woman, only a few clumps of uneven hair remaining on her head, her left hand twisted in an unnatural way, her fingernails long and yellow, she smiled, revealing missing teeth. Her clothes, once very fine material, were torn and stained. She leaned on a cane as she walked towards Merlin. They were in a large theatre, quite possible the Globe theatre. Merlin stood center stage with his hands behind his back. As she walked towards the stage she pointed a finger at Merlin accusingly. Her voice was loud and powerful, filling up the entire theatre.

"You. You are the cause of all this. You have caused us more pain than we could have ever imagined, but not anymore!" She screamed like a mad woman. "We are the gods! This is OUR world! You will suffer and die at our hands! I will bathe in your blood and feast on your flesh! Prepare Emrys! Your great life has come to an end!"

She laughed hysterically as cold, white lightening sprung through her outstretched finger and hit Merlin in the chest. He flew back and screamed in agonizing pain. The sound of his screams mixed with the sounds of the woman's laughing until you could not tell them apart.

The scene went black.


	47. Chapter 47

Christina opened her eyes and pulled her arms away from their grips. Arthur and Merlin opened their eyes slowly. No one said anything, no one dared.

After a century Merlin spoke in a harsh, broken voice. "Lila's … alive?" He looked up and tears, of both happiness and sadness, flowed through his eyes. "She's trapped … with Leila?" He gasped and stumbled backwards. "There's still a chance …"

Arthur spun his head around. "No. There is no way you're going to do what I think you're thinking of doing! If you go after her and try freeing Lila, Leila will kill you! You saw what happened! You are not going after her!"

Merlin's face grew hot with anger. "You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do! If there's even a chance that I can save her I have to take it!"

"I am not going to let you die!"

"I am not going to let her suffer!"

"Would you just think about this for a second! We've already seen what's going to happen if you go after her! The plan, Merlin! We have to stick to the plan! Tomorrow night we do the ritual! We are not going after Leila, we are going to stop the attack on Earth!"

Merlin and Arthur stared each other in the eyes. Merlin looked down, defeated. "The plan, we'll stick to the plan."

Arthur sighed. Christina cleared her throat, "I'm guessing I missed something. Would someone care to explain? Let's start with 'the plan'. Did you just seriously say that Earth is under attack?"

Arthur looked at Christina. "Yes, aliens are invading Earth, we suspect they will attack on Christmas day."

Christina blinked and stared blankly. "Was that a joke? Should I be laughing? Cause, considering what we've just seen I don't think it's very funny."

"No it's not a joke and it shouldn't be funny. They call themselves 'sons of Taerlah', the pink haired girl is one of them. They're trying to be the 'new gods' and they want to destroy humans for their imperfections."

Christina took in a deep breath. "Let's just assume for a bit that that was not a totally impossible lie that I should take you to a nuthouse for saying so seriously and let me ask how you plan to stop an alien invasion."

Arthur looked at Merlin. "The plan is to find where they'll be attacking, then we have to get everyone to safety and possibly fight them."

Christina blinked at him blankly. "That could be the worst plan I've ever heard come out of a human being's mouth since Hannah suggested I kiss Andrew Patriot without warning."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What …?"

"Never mind, you're plan is awful. You are two guys who live in a basement and work at a strip club and you expect to fight off aliens alone? You need help, and a lot of it. Furthermore, Christmas is in two days, you have _two days _to find out where they're going to attack. And how are you going to get people to safety? You don't really think anyone is going to listen to you if you tell them aliens are about to attack? God! This is just proof that females are smarter than men, not that everyone didn't already know it. Lucky for you, I'm officially in your boat so that means no more half-assed plans from now on. Now, how are we going to figure out where to meet our alien friends?"

Merlin and Arthur just kind of stared at Christina like two fish out of water. "Um … there's a ritual that has to be done on Christmas eve, that's why we haven't been able to figure out a location yet. And I have magic … and Arthur sort of has magic."

"Who's Arthur?"

Arthur raised his hand. "Yeah, please don't call me Bradley anymore, I hate it, he picked it out. Or dish-boy, don't call me dish-boy."

Christina squinted her eyes. "Merlin and Arthur? You so did that on purpose. And you two write pamphlets on Arthurian legends coinciding with actual events. Tell me you don't actually believe that 'King Arthur will rise from the depths of Avalon when Albion's need is greatest'!"

Arthur and Merlin stole quick glances at each other. Arthur felt ridiculous saying it, "Um, yes … yes we do … especially considering that I … I did 'rise from the depths of Avalon' almost seven months ago. Hi, King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot, this is my warlock, Merlin. We're here to um … save the world … it would seem."

Christina stared at them as Arthur and Merlin smiled awkwardly and waved at her. "You two really are bonkers, aren't you?"

Merlin smiled, "That's a matter of opinion."

Christina slowly backed away from them as Merlin and Arthur burst into fits of laughter. "Don't look so scared Christina, it's not that crazy when you consider everything else."

Christina choked out a mock laugh. "Yeah, it kind of is."

Arthur straightened up. "You'll get used to it. Now, is there anything else we need to tell her to make her think we're more insane?"

Merlin laughed. "Nothing all that important. Now, we have to talk about these visions. Who was that woman at the white house, screaming about destroying the human race?"

"No idea."

"Nada."

Merlin frowned. "Well I don't like her. If we ever come across her we should kill her on-sight."

Christina's face paled at Merlin's comment. "There's not much else we can do for now, we should get some rest. You say you're in our boat? Fine, but it'll be a dangerous ride and if the thought of killing someone makes you queasy you should hop out while you can. Think about, and if you're still on, come back at noon tomorrow. Bring us lunch, anything will do."

Christina nodded her head and headed for the staircase. She stopped before the stairs. "I'll see you at noon, _Mer_lin, dish-boy." She walked up the stairs.

Arthur turned to Merlin. "You're not really going to let her get involved, are you?"

Merlin shrugged. "She's right about our plan, we're going to need all the help we can get."

(Hey guys. Sorry about not posting yesterday, my fault. Thanks for reading! :D)


	48. Chapter 48

Christina could not wait till noon. She stopped at a café she liked, got three lunches, and made her way to Bradley and … to _Arthur and Merlin's _place. At only eleven o'clock, she picked the lock to the front door and went to the basement. She was surprised when she got down there that all the lights were off. _I'm going to be very disappointed if I have to wait for an hour for them to come back from somewhere. _And then she heard a loud snore come from down the stairs. She chuckled as she descended the staircase and found the light switch.

"Morning, dish-boy."

Arthur turned onto his side slowly and squinted his eyes at Christina. Arthur jumped a bit when he saw her hovering over him. "Christina!" He pulled the blankets up a bit, covering his bare chest. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

Christina sat down on the pullout couch next to Arthur and he moved away from her a bit. "I just couldn't stay away. I didn't think you'd still be sleeping at eleven."

Arthur blushed. "Merlin usually wakes me."

"Where is he?"

Arthur looked around and didn't see him on the couch. "Merlin! Merlin! MERLIN!"

Catherine's voice from up the stairs shouted "Shut up!"

Arthur frowned. "It appears I have misplaced my warlock."

Christina laughed, "What makes him _your warlock_?"

"He's my friend, and he's pledged allegiance to me as his king. I'm not really much of a king anymore though, am I?"

Christina shook her head. "You are truly bonkers."

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"How do I prove to you that I'm really King Arthur?"

Christina thought for a moment. "I really don't think there's any way you can, sorry."

Arthur frowned. "You can't deny that the prophecy appears to be coming true, it also states that I, King Arthur, will save us all. Why is that so hard to believe?"

Christina smiled. "It just is."

Arthur went to the bathroom and got dressed. He walked out of the bathroom brushing his hair. "What did you bring for breakfast? Well, lunch I guess."

"Peperoni subs."

"Sounds interesting."

They sat across from each other on the pullout couch and ate. Merlin came down the stairs at ten to twelve.

"Merlin! Where have you been?!"

Merlin took of his coat and shook the snow out of his hair. "I had some errands to run, I didn't think it would take that long." He sat down on the pullout couch. "Good to see you here, Christina. That help you were talking about, I got it. Might not be enough but it's better than nothing." He reached for a sub, sniffed it, and then began to slowly devour it in large bites.

"What is it?"

Merlin spoke with his mouth full. "I've got a few friends willing to help out, they'll be waiting for my call."

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows. "What friends do you mean?"

"People who owe me favors, people I taught, people who are just friends …"

"People you taught?"

"Lila wasn't my first pupil."

Arthur blinked in surprise. Of course, Merlin had been around for fifteen hundred years, he was bound to have friends. Why had Arthur assumed Merlin had just been with Lila this whole time? He had probably had many pupils in his time, and with magic dying in an age of science, his wisdom and guidance would be needed by many sorcerers. Arthur just couldn't seem to get his head around the idea of Merlin doing anything without him knowing. He wanted more than anything to know Merlin the way he knew Arthur, inside and out. Arthur longed to understand Merlin and know everything Merlin had ever done for him, and everything Merlin had done after he had died. But the warlock hardly ever opened up to Arthur, he always preferred to talk about Arthur.

Merlin didn't want to have to acknowledge how much time had really passed for him, how hard it had been _waiting _for his king. He had been through so much, and many times throughout his wait he had nearly forgotten what he was even waiting for and why. He wanted to pretend like nothing had changed, that the last fifteen hundred years he had been sleeping like Arthur, but he hadn't, he had been forced to live through it much to his joy and sadness. Whenever he spoke of his past, he always did so casually, trying not to let Arthur know just how horrible it had been. He didn't know that the way he spoke of it as something unimportant hurt Arthur, as he could tell he was purposefully trying not to talk about it, as if he still didn't trust Arthur or didn't want the equal and understanding friendship that Arthur desired.

Christina saw Arthur hiding a hurt expression and briefly wondered about it. She pushed it from her mind, "So, what are we doing?"

Merlin put down his sub and swallowed. "Tonight at midnight we do the ritual, it should show us where we need to be. Until then we have to prepare for what's about to happen. Arthur, you need to practice you're magic. I want you to go get us ammo for the shotgun, during the fight it'll be yours." Merlin got up and retrieved the shotgun from a nearby bag.

Christina grabbed onto it and Merlin looked into her eyes. "Please, be careful with it."

Christina scoffed. "It's just a shotgun, no need to get all teary."

"No, it's more than that." Merlin let go of the shotgun and Christina looked at it with wonder. _More than a shotgun you say? _

Merlin went to a corner of the room where a few unpacked bags laid. Merlin pushed a few away and unzipped one. He slowly lifted a long object wrapped in cloth. He held the object gingerly and took it back to the pullout couch. He looked at Arthur and bowed his head, offering him the wrapped up object. Arthur's eyes widened in wonder, was this what he thought it was? He stood and took the object from Merlin. He carefully unwrapped the shining metal, which nearly glowed in the dim lighting.

Christina's eyes widened at the sight of an ornate sword in Arthur's hand. Despite all of the disbelief which had been embedded in her mind, seeing Arthur hold Excalibur with the pride and joy of a true king, she could see it, _King Arthur. _All of the doubt washed away from Christina's mind and she found herself bowing her head to him instinctively.

Merlin smiled and did the same, he was filled with pride and limitless joy at seeing his king in such glory.

Holding his mighty sword, Arthur felt as he hadn't felt in over fifteen hundred years, like a king. He smiled and swung it around, getting a feel for the weight and power of the weapon. He put the tip of the sword on the floor between his feet and smiled at his friends. "We have work to do."

(AN: Hello all. I lost two followers today, :( oh well. I'm really sorry this story is moving so slowly, there's just so much that I think is important that I want to put in here. Thanks for reading! :D)


	49. Chapter 49

Christina watched as Arthur and Merlin held hands and stared at each other silently. She had no idea what this was supposed to be doing, they were just staring at each other. She started examining the patterns on her sleeves when Merlin and Arthur each held a hand out to Christina. "Here."

Christina looked at their outstretched hands. "Oh wow, I get to be part of your weird silent circle? Yippee."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Just take our hands."

She took their hands and sighed. It was strange, but she could've sworn she heard something. She looked around trying to find the sound. It gradually became clearer and she recognized Merlin's voice. _Hey Christina. _

Christina looked at Merlin. "What?"

_You can hear me? _

Her eyes widened. Merlin's lips hadn't moved. He smiled as realization dawned on her face. She projected her own thoughts to Merlin. _How is this possible? _

Arthur's voice spoke, _Don't ask him that, he could talk for hours about all the magically what-not that goes into it. We'll save ourselves from a lot of headache if we agree to just say 'it's complicated'. _

Merlin frowned. _Well, _sorry_, I didn't realize it was so painful for you to listen to me answer _your _question. _

Christina listened to them talk and occasionally joined in. All too soon Merlin told her she should go get the ammo and she had to break away from the circle. She left Merlin and Arthur alone in the basement.

Merlin spoke, _You need to practice with that sword, you'll have to use it pretty soon. _

Arthur frowned, _Are you saying I'm rusty? _

Merlin gave him a look. _You haven't properly swung a sword in fifteen hundred years. I'd rather be sure that you still know how to use it before going into battle with you. _

Arthur sighed. _Good point. _

They let go of each other's hands and stood. Arthur lifted Excalibur from the pullout couch and gripped it with his sword hand. "Looks like I'm going to need a dummy, _Mer_lin."

Merlin backed away cautiously. "Oh no you don't! My dummy days are over!" Merlin held up his hands and said a shielding spell as Excalibur swung towards him.

Arthur jumped over the pullout couch and ran after the warlock. He fought instinctively, the movements becoming more and more familiar as he swung at his friend. Arthur laughed as Merlin shielded himself with magic. "Come on Merlin! Fight back!"

"You really don't want that!"

"Why? What are you going to do to me?"

Merlin pushed Arthur back. "Turn you into a toad probably!"

"Come on Merlin! Stop being so boring! Fight back!"

"You asked for it!" Merlin's eyes went gold and he held a sword which looked more like a golden shadow. He sparred with Arthur with surprising skill.

"When did you learn to fight?!"

"Charlemagne taught me a couple hundred years after you died! He was stubborn as hell! Refused to give up on me until I was at least decent!"

Arthur disarmed Merlin and the sword vanished into thin air. Arthur smiled triumphantly. Merlin returned with a much more wicked smile. Arthur's smile melted away as Merlin's eyes flashed gold.

Arthur croaked. Merlin started laughing hysterically. Arthur opened his mouth to say something and croaked again. "Feeling a bit toad-like are we?"

Arthur croaked loudly in anger and Merlin laughed out loud. Arthur's ears went red and he made a very serious decision.

_I'm going to kill that warlock!_

(AN: Hello all. I was going to skip this chapter but I just thought it was too cute, and it was already written so what the heck. If I finish my goal of writing a whole chapter today, I will publish an extra chapter tonight since this one had no actual importance. Thanks for reading! :D)


	50. Chapter 50

(AN: Good news! I accomplished triple my goal! Three chapters in one day! Yay me! On with this extra chapter! :D)

I fall to my knees and pain shoots up my legs. My little white tile room is having an earthquake. Brainquake? My own voice echoes loud and clear from somewhere far away.

"Come out, Lila! It's my turn to cause pain! I will find you! I will destroy you!" Leila's voice is the same as mine and hearing it scream at me in anger sends chills up my back.

I look at the crack in the wall, my proud creation. Black shadows begin to pour through. Leila's voice emits from the shadows. "Come on, Lila! Let's see you!"

I get as close to the floor as I can and army-crawl my way to the hospital bed.

"Oh! I think I've found you! All that's left to do now is put you to sleep for good and ever!"

I crawl underneath the hospital bed and huddle into a fetal position. I look down at my ankle and refrain from gasping in horror. My ankle must have touched the shadow … it … it's black and … crumbling to ash! I desperately claw at the ash on the floor and try to sprinkle it on the remainder of my leg. My ankle and foot are completely destroyed and the end of my leg drips steaming hot blood, as if it were lava. It burns! I bite back tears of pain and breathe deeply. As much as it hurts, I use my left hand to put pressure on the wound. The hot blood burns my hand causing more pain.

The black shadow twists and turns like a serpent. "I think I felt you! Yes! What was that? A bit of your leg? It was delicious! Just imagine how sweet and juicy it will be to devour the heart of your soul!"

I do the only thing I know how, but I don't know if it will work. Can I use magic here? I have to try. I whisper a concealing spell and a blue veil of light falls onto my head and the rest of my body.

The shadow seems to stop for a moment, as if it were confused. It slithers along the edge of the hospital bed and my heart seems to stop. As if the shadow had tasted something bad, it cringes, slithers to the crack, and squeezes through.

I stay completely still and silent. The shadow is gone and Leila's voice is silent, but fear still keeps me compromised. At last I let out a sigh which turns into a gasp of pain. I remove my hand from the smoking hole in my leg to see that my hand if bright red from the burns. My foot and ankle are completely gone, demolished to dust. I have to claw at the tiles and push with one leg to get out from under the hospital bed.

I manipulate the surroundings with my mind and the hospital bed sinks to the floor. I roll onto it and grab my leg again. I don't know if I can bleed out here, but I don't want to take my chances, so I keep applying pressure and I let myself cry from the pain.

In my weakness, I let my thoughts drift to Merlin. _Are you happy, Merlin? You've got what you wanted, I'm miserable! And my parents, did you know that they knew? They named me Gilda! Sacrifice! You didn't have to kill them! They would've let me die too! It doesn't matter that I am bleeding and in pain because I'm just a sacrifice! My whole existence is for one purpose! To suffer so others won't have to! You better be living to the fullest because I am suffering like never before! _

The tears glow blue as they stream down my face and a horrible thought occurs to me. This is not my body, I am not bleeding blood or crying tears, I am bleeding and crying bits of my soul away.

_What will happen when I run dry? _


	51. Chapter 51

Merlin went to the corner and began setting everything up for the ritual. Arthur went around the room turning off all the lights, keeping a steady glowing orb which Merlin had generated with his power in Arthur's hand. Christina watched as Merlin carefully set up the different colored candles so that they made a rainbow. Merlin gestured for Arthur to come to his side when the lights were all out. Merlin took the orb from Arthur and showed him a worn scrap of paper with strange words written across it. Arthur silently read through them and gave the paper back to Merlin. Merlin set the paper down and sat on the floor in front of the cauldron. Arthur sat opposite Merlin and stared at the cauldron intently.

Merlin began the chant softly as he sprinkled sea dust inside the cauldron. Arthur joined in on the chant as water began to pool and rise in the cauldron. They continued the chant louder as Merlin dropped in crystal roots. The water in the cauldron began to glow different colors and spin rapidly. The chant became louder and faster as if Arthur and Merlin's mouths were being controlled by something else.

Without thinking, Arthur lit a fire in his hands and lit the candles in order of their colors starting with red. When it became convenient, Merlin lit his own flame and lit the rest of the candles. As each one was lit it seemed as if a new voice was joining the chant, each one louder than the next. The candle flames grew and the water and light spun faster as the chant became louder and faster. Soon the chant was so loud and fast it didn't sound like voices at all, but more like a strong wind whistling in the air.

As this new sound came from the chant, Arthur and Merlin looked into the light coming from the cauldron and it blinded them with white light. Slowly, the white light faded from the center and the faint sounds of cars, Christmas music, and people walking and talking could be heard. The white light faded enough for Merlin and Arthur to see a ginormous clock about to tick eight o'clock. A bird flew past, a baby began crying, and a shrill scream pierced the morning.

The clock struck eight and the white light came flooding back. This time it was overwhelming. It hurt Arthur's eyes, his mind, and his heart beat faster. Merlin felt the pain too, and channeled his power to try and force the white light towards him.

The white light flooded away from Arthur and the pain became a dull throb in his mind. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself back in the dark basement in front of the cauldron. He stared at his dim reflection in the brass and took short breaths. He looked up shakily and saw Christina with a look of complete shock and horror. They locked eyesight and she just whispered in a raspy voice, "Merlin."

Arthur heard something from behind the cauldron and quickly crawled to the other side. Merlin, stupid silly powerful Merlin, his manservant, his warlock, _his friend, _lied on the ground writhing like a snake. His mouth foamed and his eyes … his eye were entirely white. They glowed like lights in his eye sockets.

Arthur was shocked. _What do I do? What do I do?! _He grabbed his friend's wrists and tried to hold him down. He ended up getting kicked in the stomach. The foam ran down his chin and soaked through his shirt. "Merlin?! MERLIN?!" Arthur didn't know what to do. He was powerless. Shaking, he tried to hold Merlin's body down again, this time pinning down the man's legs with his knees. Merlin's body continued to struggle, but his limbs were no longer flinging in every direction. Arthur didn't know what to do, so he found himself just screaming at the man beneath him. "MERLIN!" Tears streamed down his cheeks and hit Merlin's face. Arthur closed his eyes, not wanting to look into Merlin's blank ones. His eyes flung open again when the struggling beneath him stopped.

_Merlin?_


	52. Chapter 52

Merlin's body lay limp and motionless beneath Arthur. Arthur raised a trembling hand to Merlin's neck and felt for a pulse. After a moment of feeling nothing, Arthur panicked. Merlin appeared to not be breathing. Arthur shakily took Merlin's scarf and stuck part of it in Merlin's mouth to get rid of the foam, then he opened the warlock's mouth and put it to his own.

Breathe. Blow. Push three times. Breathe. Blow. Push three times. He remembered seeing this being done on the television that July. Lila had chuckled at his horrified expression at seeing a man kiss another unconscious man.

"It's called CPR, they're not making out."

Arthur had simply turned to her with the same horrified expression. She laughed again. "The unconscious man isn't breathing, so the other guy is using a method called CPR to try and get his lungs working again. You blow air into the other person's mouth and push on their chest. It could save that man's life so stop looking so offended."

Breathe. Blow. Push three times. He heard the slightest breath come from Merlin. Arthur's voice was quiet, hardly daring to speak at all. "Merlin?"

Merlin's eyes seemed to grow blue again and he started to cough weakly. Arthur felt tears of joy run down his face. "Merlin!" He got off of the warlock's body and pushed Merlin's torso up so he could hug him.

"Your breath is terrible!"

Arthur laughed and noticed he was crying. He quickly wiped away the tears before Merlin could see them. "I thought I'd lost you!"

"You don't ever have to worry about that, I've got an everlasting contract with life." Merlin smiled for a moment and it immediately melted away. "London."

"What?"

"It's going to start near the Big Ben. It's time to go. Christina! Call the number on that desk and tell them it's in London!"

Merlin pushed himself off the floor, moaning. Arthur stood and helped him walk to the pullout couch. "My phone, get my phone."

Arthur sat Merlin down and ran to get the phone out of Merlin's jacket. Merlin took it and texted a group message labeled 'Friends'. _London time to go. _He sent the message.

"I need my staff. It's in the same bag Excalibur was in."

Arthur ran past Christina and got Merlin's staff. Merlin gripped the staff and used it to hoist himself up. The magic crystals glowed as they sensed something wrong and sent energy to their master. Merlin used it to walk up the stairs. "Come on you two! There's not a minute to waste! Arthur get your sword! Christina, you need that shotgun! Well come on kids the invasion isn't going to wait for us!"

Arthur and Christina ran up the stairs after Merlin. They walked out the front door and to the car.

"Christina, I need you to drive! Arthur, get in the back!" They jumped in the car. "Fasten your seat belts kids! This'll be a rough ride. I haven't done this in a while and I'm not at my strongest right this moment so if you get carsick you should probably brace yourself for a major case of it."

Christina turned on the car. "Where are we going?"

"Straight."

Christina put her foot on the gas and Merlin began a steady chant. The car seemed to pick up speed remarkably fast until everything became a blur. It felt like the fastest rollercoaster to ever be invented with loop-di-loops, giant up-hills, giant down-hills, a few splashes of cold water, and a lot of sudden changes in direction. Arthur felt ill and Christina let out a scream every once in a while. Merlin let out a happy yelp, obviously enjoying himself as they plunged into higher speeds.

Without warning, the car suddenly came to a complete stop, causing everyone to fling forward in their seats and make the airbags inflate. Arthur slowly made his way out of the car while Christina scrambled to escape. Merlin however did not get out of the car. He looked paler than usual and sweaty. He took a few deep breaths and his eyes drooped until closing completely.

Arthur rapped on the window. "Merlin. We're here."

His friend flinched slightly at the sound of his voice, but otherwise did not respond. Arthur mumbled to himself as he opened the car door and dragged his friend out.

Merlin's eyes flung open. "Wha-?"

Arthur pulled him to his feet. "Come on Merlin, you can stand up at least, right?"

"Uh yeah."

Merlin tried to stand and managed for a few seconds before falling towards Arthur and landing in his arms again. "Er … sorry."

Arthur smiled, trying to brush off his own annoyance.

"Wait, what are … no." Merlin protested uselessly as Arthur hoisted Merlin on his back and took the staff away from Merlin's hands.

"Okay, so we're looking for a clock?"


	53. Chapter 53

"No, put me down! We're meeting everyone in two-two-eight Baker Street. Seriously, I'm a grown man and it's not dignified to carry me around like this! Put me down!"

"Save your breath, old man. Where is two-two-eight Baker Street?"

Christina walked into the street as they bickered and whistled for a taxi. A taxi pulled up and Christina went to the other side to get in. "Are you two coming?"

They all got in the cab and told the driver where to go. All during the ride, Merlin clutched his staff as if it were keeping him alive, who knows maybe it was. The crystals glowed dim, sending the energy his body needed to heal. He had just gone through an extremely dangerous ritual, taking in twice the usual amount of damage, due to trying to protect Arthur, and did a powerful spell immediately afterwards. He knew he couldn't die, his destiny wouldn't let him, but physically he was just as vulnerable to injury as anyone else and the two recent events had taken a toll on his health. He felt weak and tired, he was even a bit clammy and he knew that this was going to be bad news when the Taerlah's attacked. How would he protect Arthur if he couldn't even stand on his own?

Arthur thought about this too. What had happened with Merlin earlier? Those white eyes … He shivered at the memory and forced himself to think of something else.

Christina watched the passing buildings and streets. She'd never been to London and this was not how she'd imagined her first visit. She still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. She didn't think Arthur or Merlin really knew either, she just had to hope that these 'friends' they were about to meet would be able to help them in the 'invasion'. Christina Gardens, the filthy no good prostitute, about to save the world with two crazy men she had only just met. Hopefully it was only a little crazier than her usual stunts.

The taxi pulled over and they got out of the car. Arthur literally had to pull Merlin out while Christina paid the driver.

Two-two-eight Baker Street had a small green hallway which led to several different rooms. As the trio stepped inside they had to walk single file, with Merlin in front, Arthur behind him to support him if he fell, and Christina at the back. Merlin walked slowly, with his staff, towards the door at the very end of the hallway. He breathed heavily and each step felt twice as hard to take. He reached the end and fiddled with the door knob.

Merlin gaped in shock at the sight of Patrick and Stuart in the middle of a fist fight. Their wives and daughters stood to the side yelling at the two men and three more men tried to break up the fight.

Merlin's voice sounded loud, powerful, and very angry_. _"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

Every head turned and stared at the infuriated warlock. Patrick and Stuart backed away from each other. There was complete silence in the room. Patrick spoke first. "It can't be! Colin …? What happened to you?!"

All of a sudden the whole room erupted with questions. "My God! He hasn't aged a day!"

"That can't be Stephen! He's too young!"

"How did he do that?! What's the spell?!"

"QUEIT!"

Everyone went silent again at the sound of his voice. Merlin sighed and leaned on his staff. "You all know me by different names. For the sake of everyone's understanding, you will all call me 'Colin'. As many of you know I have 'special abilities' that help me look as young as I do. For those of you who didn't know, this should be proof enough. Now would you all close your mouths? You look like a dumb school of fish."

Many gaping mouths closed obediently.

"That's better. Where's Gwen? I need help."

Arthur's brain drowned in confusion and desperate hope. "Gwen?"

Merlin realized in horror what his friend was thinking. He turned around to look Arthur in the eye. "No, I'm sorry. Not that Gwen."

A wrinkled woman with white hair stepped forward. "Master."

"No, no please, just call me Colin. I've had a rough journey, I need something for my health."

Gwen nodded. "Of course, Colin."

Merlin turned back to Arthur. "I need you to explain the situation to these people. Call yourself Bradley for now. Remember, Big Ben at eight."

He let Gwen lead him out of the room, leaving Arthur with a room of confused people.

"Um … hello. I'm Bradley. We have a problem."

(AN: Dear JAM, I'm so glad you are continuing to read and enjoy, and that you are finding Christina more appealing. I'm so sorry if I made you feel unintelligent with my answer to the age question, that was really not my intention. I thought your question was perfectly reasonable and not stupid at all. If anything, I was touched that someone was paying enough attention to the details to care. I do not think you are stupid and I am so sorry that I might have given any impression that I did think so. So far I have thought of you as a very thoughtful and intelligent person, and I have been very happy to receive reviews from you. Thanks for reading! :D)


	54. Chapter 54

"What the hell do you mean an 'alien invasion'? You're out of your mind! Where's Stephen?!"

"I know it sounds crazy but it's true! In seven hours they attack at the Big Ben! We need to stop arguing and get ready!"

A dark skinned lady yelled from the back, "Who are you anyway?! I never heard him talk of 'Bradley'! Who says we trust you?! I wanna talk to Merlin!"

Others yelled things indistinctly as Arthur tried to regain control over the crowd of people in front of him. _My God! How could Merlin be friends with all of these loud and disrespectful people? _

A female voice rose above everyone else. "Would you all shut up?! We all know Colin, we are all here because of him. If Colin trusts this man then so do I. And honestly, considering all the crazy that man has dragged me through, an alien invasion doesn't seem all that crazier. We need to stop yelling at each other and figure out a plan! Bradley, I trust you, tell me what Colin needs and I'll do it. If any of you won't do the same then you are not worthy of Colin's friendship and you ought to go back home and open your Christmas presents."

Feet shifted uncomfortably and mouths stayed silent.

Arthur spoke, "Thank you. Where are you?"

A small girl pushed her way to the front of the crowd. She wore a military uniform. "Private Miranda Gogan, at your service."

"Bradley James at yours." He looked up at everyone else. "Do all able men have weapons?"

A man laughed. "What do we need weapons for? We've got magic!"

Arthur paled. Of course, Merlin's friends were sorcerers. Dear God, he was _completely _surrounded by sorcerers. He had accepted magic, really he had, he had even used it! But for some reason, he couldn't get rid of the suspicion, the suspicion that Uther drilled into him his entire life. Trying to remove that suspicion was just as hard as trying to rip out one's own tongue, he couldn't do it, he couldn't, _but he had to. _He swallowed and regained his confidence. "Okay, you all have magic."

"Um, not all of us."

Arthur suddenly found himself relaxing again. "Alright, who here does not use magic?" Some people called out. "All non-magic users come to the front."

Five adults and four children came to the front. There were children here, did Merlin expect children to fight? "How many children are here?! Why did you bring your children?! You have to get them out of here! Do you realize how dangerous …!"

Arthur ran his fingers through his hair. "I need someone to collect the children and get them somewhere safe. Take them out of London."

"I'll do it." An old man stepped forward.

"Good. What's your name?"

"Max."

"Alright. All children follow Max. Get them out of here."

Eleven children reluctantly left their mothers' sides and followed Max out of the room. Arthur turned to Christina. "The five people here who don't have magic, they'll need weapons, I need you to get some."

Christina nodded. "You'll have to fill me in later." She grabbed a hundred pound note from Arthur and left.

In the kitchen, Merlin sat on a stool while Gwen cooked a potion.

"When did you become Colin? Last time I saw you, you were called Stephen."

"I had a friend named Colin Morgan in the First World War. He always said he owed me, now we're even."

Gwen smiled as she stirred the pot. "I wish you had stayed in contact. I waited for years for you to show up. You said you would, why didn't you?"

Merlin looked at his feet. "Gwen … that was so long ago. Let's not talk about it."

Gwen frowned. "John died a decade ago. He told me to tell you that he found your scarf in the hay loft. You just didn't look hard enough."

A small smile passed Merlin's lips. "I guess I cursed William Anton for no reason then?"

Gwen chuckled. "He still had that donkey laugh for forty years!"

Merlin laughed lightly at the thought of it. "Poor Willy."

Gwen poured the contents of the pot into a small glass. "Here, drink it."

Merlin sniffed it first and gagged. "Couldn't you add some sugar or something?"

Gwen scoffed. "So picky!" She went to a cabinet and found some sugar.

Merlin took it from her and added three spoonfuls. "Bottoms up."

(AN: Hello all. I am afraid that starting now I am taking an eight-to-seven day hiatus. I am very sorry to leave you hanging like this and I hope that you will all still be here when I return. Thanks for reading! :D)


	55. Chapter 55

Leila smiled to herself in the mirror. The human parasite inside her had not made a sound for hours. She went to her closet and looked at the three dresses she owned, she did not see any reason in buying many clothes. All the dresses were plain and of the finest quality, one was black, the other blue, and the last grey.

She reached for the black one and put it on. She put on her only pair of shoes, black pumps, and brushed out her hair. The dark brown roots were quite long by now and rather unsightly, but Leila would not dare dye her hair, it was dishonorable to change nature in that way. She pinned her hair up in a bun so it would not be in the way. Lastly, she untied the scarf around her neck and looked at the scars.

"Thick, puffy, pink mountains on a smooth plateau of skin." She furrowed her eyebrows together. Those words were not hers, she had thought them herself but the words had come from somewhere else. Thick, puffy, pink mountains on a smooth plateau of skin.

She slowly tied the scarf back around her neck. She was ready. She left the hotel taking nothing with her. She walked down the streets of London as the sun slowly rose, shedding light on the decorated streets and buildings.

This morning, everyone would wake up with a festive mood. Every child would run to wake their parents. Everyone would rush to finish breakfast. Every family would sit around a Christmas tree, ripping colorful paper off of boxes. This morning would be the happiest morning of the year for many people, at least it would have been.

Leila found her way to the Big Ben. She stared at it from the ground, it was so stupid. It was a giant clock that had used up so many resources, they would have been better off giving everyone a free watch than building a ginormous clock. Humans did so many stupid things that they would call art, but a son of Taerlah knows that art is precise, elegant, and someone else's pain. Pain was beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful thing in the universe, humans couldn't see that. That is why Leila enjoyed opera so much, because operas always end in pain. Leila knew that her own pain had been beautiful, but it was unnatural and therefore was a flawed form of beauty. It was natural for lesser beings to have pain, but a son of Taerlah finds beauty in causing pain.

Leila looked around and saw her brothers, all stationed exactly where they were meant to be. Now, they waited.

(AN: I'M BACK! Did you miss me? :D)


	56. Chapter 56

Gwen woke Merlin up at six in the morning. Arthur stood in the doorway as Merlin sat upright, holding his middle. "Need help there, old timer?"

Merlin laughed and nodded his head. Arthur walked to the leather couch and helped Merlin stand up. "Ow, ow! Careful! I'm not replaceable!"

"I thought you said you had a contract with life?"

Merlin glared at Arthur. "Just hand me my staff."

Arthur gave the staff to Merlin and let go of him. Merlin walked through the cramped hallway towards the big room. Everyone stopped what they were doing upon seeing him enter.

Merlin smiled. "Hello friends. Most of you haven't seen me in at least a few decades, so I'm very thankful that you came here this morning. Oh, that reminds me, happy Christmas. Except it won't be a happy Christmas this year, it will probably be the worst Christmas ever, and I'm sorry. I mean it when I say that I wish none of you had come, but I need you all here. We are about to go into battle, a battle for freedom, and peace, and I never have been any good at these kinds of speeches. I know many of you wouldn't have come if it hadn't been me who asked you to, which is why I suspect some of you will be reluctant to follow Bradley here. But since I am in a rather compromising situation at the present moment, I assure you that there is no better man to lead you. So I turn over all command to Bradley."

The whole room of people gave disappointed and worried looks. Arthur leaned over Merlin's ear to whisper, "What?!"

"I'm impaired. Besides, it's supposed to be _your_ destiny to save Albion, I just have to keep you alive long enough so you can do it." Merlin gave Arthur a reassuring smile.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Alright, everyone has some means of defense? Good. We march on London in two hours. Until then, say good bye to your loved ones, not all of you will make it. But no one's blood will be spilt in vain, all will remember your sacrifice. We fight for peace and freedom, for those we love, and for our very lives. For the love of Camelot!" Arthur took Excalibur from its sheath and held it up as a war cry.

The initial reactions of those in the room were reluctant, but after Merlin repeated the chant, the whole room erupted with the cry, "For the love of Camelot!"

(AN: I know this story is really dragging on in a slow pace but if you could just keep with me for three more days it'll be worth it. Thank you guys! :D)


	57. Chapter 57

Arthur led a large group of people through the streets of London. People saw their grave faces and silently made way for them. Arthur would shout at them, "Go home! All of you, go home!" The people would look at him strangely and move away quickly.

Christmas music played on speakers. Leila watched from her station as happy people passed her by.

Merlin walked behind Arthur with Christina. Christina held the shotgun so people wouldn't see. She kept her chin held high and tried to be brave, but she still shook with fear. Merlin did not feel scared or courageous, he felt tired. One more battle after an eternity of battles, it was almost over, he just wanted it to be over.

Leila looked up at the giant clock. _Five minutes. _

Arthur was angry, they had taken Lila, now they wanted to take everyone, he wouldn't let them. He was determined to save this new world, even if he wasn't part of it, and he would kill anyone who got in his way.

Lila looked at the crack in the wall from her hospital bed. Something was about to happen, she could feel it.

Leila looked up at the Big Ben just as she came into Arthur's view.

A bird flew past, Arthur started into a run, a baby began crying, Leila picked a teenage boy talking with his parents, and a shrill scream pierced the peaceful morning.

The boy crumpled to the ground, white lightening seemed to glow through his veins. His parents crouched down screaming. "HELP! HELP!" A crowd of people rushed forward getting out mobile phones.

Leila raised her hands dramatically. Every mobile, blackberry, and pager flew above the heads of the panicked people.

Arthur and his small army ran through the crowd of screaming people. The group started to get broken off into smaller isolated groups by the panicked people. Everyone ran in different directions, pushing and shoving.

Leila laughed a cold laugh which echoed loudly. Merlin heard the laugh and froze. In his moment of hesitation he was separated from Arthur. "Arthur! ARTHUR!" There were too many people, Arthur couldn't hear him.

The sons of Taerlah circled around the crowd, messing with the people's minds to go in circles. Leila watched with a smile as her brothers began their work, killing humans one by one.

Christina stepped back in shock as a man fell to the ground with white lightening coursing through his body.

Merlin gripped his staff tightly and muttered a spell. He saw through the people around him and found a Taerlah. He ran through the people and stretched out his staff. The Taerlah fell to the ground and gasped. After only a few seconds, he began to get back up again. Merlin tried another spell. The Taerlah flew back and hit a parked car, this seemed to only anger him. He began to run toward Merlin who tried again.

As the Taerlah's body began to smoke, another Taerlah flew past Merlin and hit a building. "Oi Merlin! How do we kill 'em?!"

Merlin couldn't see who asked the question. "I don't know!"

"You don't know?! What do you mean you don't know?!"

"It means, I don't know!"

"But if we can't … AHHH, MERLIN HELP ME!"

Merlin looked around and saw Patrick fall to the ground with white lightening.

"No. NO! PATRICK!" Merlin ran towards Patrick's limp body. Before he could reach it, a wall of screaming people blocked his path. "NO!"

As the screams lessened and the number of bodies increased, he could hear his friends more.

"Colin!"

"Stephen!"

"Merlin!"

"Emrys!"

Where was Arthur?

Leila began hearing them too as the crowd was reduced into body piles. She screamed to her soldiers, "FIND EMRYS!"


	58. Chapter 58

Christina ran through the crowd trying to find something to shoot at. They all just looked like people. She briefly saw Merlin run in the opposite direction. "MERLIN!"

He turned around and saw her. "Christina! Where's Arthur?!"

"I don't know! It's not a fight, it's a slaughter house!" Someone shoved Christina and she fell back into the swarm of people.

Merlin circled frantically. He yelled a spell as loud as he could, forcing his magic to yield to him. He channeled the magic into his staff and released the spell.

For a moment, everything froze. Merlin saw Arthur and started running towards him, and then he saw _her. _Frozen in the moment, loose strands of pink hair blew across her face. He lost concentration and time continued. He lost sight of Arthur.

He tried to blend back into the crowd but it was too late, she had seen him. Leila stepped towards the crowd, her eyes kept on Merlin. She stretched out her hand and pointed to him. Merlin moved backwards. Some invisible force pulled at his body. He kicked at the ground trying to stop, but he couldn't. He escaped the crowd and fell onto the road face first. A cut on his cheek dripped blood onto the gravel. He looked up to see the face of the girl he had raised, staring down at him.

She tilted her head slightly and studied him. "The great and powerful Emrys, you're pathetic." She looked back onto the shrinking crowd. "Ah, I spot your _king_. Shall I bring him over?" She stretched out her hand again.

"Stop!"

She looked down at the warlock and smiled. "Why would I do that?"

"I know you're in there."

She scoffed at him. "What?"

"Please, Lila. Can't you hear me?"

Leila's smile faded away. "I don't know if she can. What I do know is that you are the most powerful of your kind." She stooped down to look Merlin in the eyes. "So help me kill her."

"Why would I do that?"

Leila smiled. "What was the name of that man? Arthur? Yes, I think it was Arthur. Well, I happen to know that he's in that crowd of people, fighting a hopeless cause. You've been waiting for him for an awfully long time. I can't imagine what you've gone through, and all for one man. Maybe you're strong for doing what you've done, I know _Lila _thinks you are, but I have a different theory. I think you're weak. I think you're still here because you are afraid. I think you're afraid to let him go, to accept his death, to accept the truth about him and you. You've failed, you were supposed to help _him _unite Albion, and _you failed. _You helped a different Arthur unite Albion, and for what? It's all gone now, everything you built, everything you worked for is destroyed! You're a fairytale. The druids are near gone completely, burned at the stake all over the world. The newest witch-hunters even use a version of your own name, Bardus. But still, you hold on because you have nothing else, he is your only hope to fix your failures. You're making him fight this battle because you don't want to accept who you are, you're a failure."

Merlin felt hot tears stream down his face. "You bitch."

"Do we have a deal?"

Both Leila and Merlin turned their heads as a man, a son of Taerlah, caught fire. He screamed and ran as he disintegrated in front of their eyes. The Taerlahs stopped attacking people. They ran away from the crowd of people and those left from the crowd ran away too. Everyone stared at Arthur who stood alone, staring at the sword in his hands.

Leila stared at the pile of ash. "No! NO! NIXON! BROTHER!" She ran to it and clawed at it. She scream hysterically. "NO! NO! NO!"

Every son of Taerlah began to scream as well. They turned their eyes on Arthur and began to walk towards him. Arthur held his sword ready. Christina ran to his side with her shotgun. "Let's do this, dish-boy."

Merlin stood with his staff in hand. Christina began shooting. The bullets slowed them down but did not pierce their skin. Merlin used every spell he knew to keep them away from Arthur and Christina.

As a woman charged on Arthur and he began to strike, Leila reached out her hand. "NO!"

Lila gripped the sides of her hospital bed and screamed. Gold dust and air swarmed around her in a cyclone and then would fly out through the crack in the wall. It hurt … _so much. _

Merlin watched as white lightening and _gold dust _lit up through Leila's skin. She screamed in agony as gold flooded her eyes. Arthur killed the Taerlah who had charged at him and stared at Leila. Every Taerlah stared in shock. _What was happening? _

Glowing tears poured down Lila's eyes as she attempted to control her magic. _I can do this. I can do this. I __**have **__to __**do this! **_

Leila fell on the ground, still screaming. While the Taerlahs were distracted, Arthur attacked. He swung his sword and chopped a head off. "Sorry mate."

Christina got the message and started shooting. Merlin returned to shouting spells as Leila's screams echoed through the streets.

Meanwhile down the street, a few war tanks patiently waited. A general leaned against a streetlamp smoking. A few officers behind him yelled at each other.

"I demand to be told what is going on!"

The general tossed his cigarette and faced the angry military man. "There's no need for you to worry, sir. We have the situation under control."

"And who exactly are you?!"

"Bardus, sir. We're Bardus."


	59. Chapter 59

In Washington DC, Rosalie stood on the steps of the white house. The younger of the president's daughters was pushed into a car as she cried.

Rosalie marched up to Olivia angrily. "Why haven't I heard back from Leila? Have someone contact London immediately." Olivia nodded and ran off.

A brother led a camera man to where Rosalie stood. "Film this, and we might let your children go." The man shakily set up his camera and turned it on.

Her light brunette hair blew behind her in the wind and she smiled with red lips. "HUMANS! YOUR TIME HAS ENDED! YOUR GODS HAVE FAILED! YOUR IMPERFECTIONS SHALL BE REPLACED BY OUR PERFECTION! THIS WORLD IS OURS! TREMBLE BEFORE THE SONS OF TAERLAH! FEAR ME AND MY BROTHERS! WE HAVE TAKEN EVERY NATIONAL CAPITOL! AND YOUR UNITED NATIONS! YOUR GODS HAVE FAILED! PREPARE FOR YOUR EXTINCTION! NOTHING CAN STOP US!" She laughed at the camera.

"Turn it off." The camera man turned off the camera and a Taerlah snatched it from him.

"Please, I did what you asked, my children …"

"Kill him."

White lightening raced through him as he screamed. "You promised!" He fell onto the grass, dead.

"I want it on every television on this planet. See to it, Alexander." Alexander nodded and marched away.

Rosalie smiled and looked at the dead camera man's body. She used her bare foot to turn his face to the other side. "I think I'll have a bit of your bones put in my crown. It would be suitable as you are the first human I directly ordered to be killed. Yes, I like that. You there! Have this one's bones removed and delivered to me. Thank you, Holly."

Rosalie walked away from the corpse and watched the police gather around the white house with their guns. She watched as they fell one by one.

Olivia ran to Rosalie in a hurry. "EMRYS AND THE KING! SHE'S BEEN ATTACKED BY EMRYS AND THE KING! AND BARDUS IS THERE! THE WITCH-HUNTERS!"

Rosalie's eyes widened. "Send reinforcements."

Olivia looked her in the eyes. "Rosalie, they have the sword. It _killed _eight of our brothers! Nixon, Desmond, Isabel, Garry, Benjamin, Victoria, Elizabeth, Rikka. All of them dead!"

Rosalie was filled with grief, but she had to push that aside. "Did- did Leila make it out?"

"I don't know." There was a pause.

"If the London invasion failed, then England is still free. We need to attack immediately before they prepare adequate defense. I want London under control by sunset!" Rosalie marched towards the white house as Olivia ran off with the new orders.

_This is my world._

(AN: Hello all. I know I have been bad about updating daily. You have to understand that summer is almost over for me now and real life is starting to pick up again. This is what would be the end of season two if by some crazy chance this was a show, and I am therefore going on a hiatus. I'm really sorry about it, I don't really want to, but I am lately having such a lack of motivation and I just need some time to gather my ideas and write something that doesn't suck. I don't know when I will start updating again and there is a possibility that I will begin another story as well. Thank you guys for everything. :D)


End file.
